Freshman Kimberly Robbins of the Ball State University women's tennis team completed a tennis marathon this weekend at the Ball State Invitational.
Nearly 80 women from nine schools competed during the two-day event where every player competed in eight matches. Robbins said she was ready for the long weekend.
"I'm a little sore, but we trained for it," Robbins said. "We can make it through two days."
Robbins and her partner, senior Rachel Surowiec, won both of their doubles matches Saturday. In singles, Robbins came back from a 5-2 deficit to win the second set 7-6 but eventually lost the match in a tiebreaker.
Robbins said day two was easier to prepare for than the first day of competition.
"Friday was tough to get ready for, especially with six rookies," she said. "We were a little nervous but that was a good thing. The anxiety makes us play well, and we strived off it almost."
Coach Kathy Bull said she was pleased overall with the effort of her young team but was looking for better results.
The Cardinals did not have a player reach any of the four singles flights finals.
"Our attitude and effort with the new players was excellent," Bull said. "But some outcomes got away from us because of youth. We lost too many super tiebreakers, which is a young team characteristic."
Bull said there weren't going to be many changes for next week's invitational in Cincinnati.
"We need to really work on raising our first-serve percentage," Bull said. "And we also need get more comfortable at the net with our volleys. We also may try to switch up some doubles partners to see how the women respond to different partners."
Bull said the Cardinals would practice inside this week because the Cincinnati Fall Invitational is an indoor tournament.
"Since it's an indoor tournament, we need to prepare for the different speed of indoor courts and how the ball bounces differently," Bull said.
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