A tough weekend on the courts at the Mid-American Conference Fall Invitational was intensified by delays in traveling home for the Ball State University women's tennis team during the weekend.
The Cardinals endured an extra two hours on the return trip from Kalamazoo, Mich., because of traffic after the conclusion of the invitational Sunday.
Coach Kathy Bull said the team had some decent performances throughout the tournament even without Hayley Hall and Georgina Thomson, who did not compete in singles play because of injury.
"Even with that, Sarah Hebble played well all weekend, Dena [Boulieris] had a great win over a junior, and had a good match out of Rachel Surowiec," Bull said.
The Cardinals failed to pick up a win in the singles flights on day one of the invitational. The sole victory was from freshmen Hanna Ohman and Thomson, a sophomore, in doubles.
Hebble said her play was better this weekend due to one thing.
"I played better because I was keeping myself in points a lot longer by not forcing shots," Hebble said.
Hebble suffered a case of tennis elbow during the course of play at the invitational. Surowiec, a senior, was forced to withdraw from play later in the tournament due to illness.
The team has been beaten down a bit, Bull said, but is being realistic about the outcomes.
"We realize that our outcomes may not be great right away," Bull said, "but we know we can be highly successful. We have seen all the MAC competition now, and we have five months to close the gap."
Western Michigan University had the most successful opening day of the invitational, winning all of its singles matches and two of three of its doubles matches.
Bull said the fitness of the team in order to return from injuries and the mental toughness during matches is key for Ball State to improve.
"We had two or three situations this weekend when we had 5-2 leads in the set get wiped out, and that is frustrating and inexcusable," Bull said.
Bull said she is enthusiastic about the team and its future because it is a good group to coach.
"Talent isn't an issue. We have talent," Bull said. "I tell the players new things, and they have never batted an eye. We are in new territory, and it's a battle."
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