The match scores from the Queen City Collegiate Invitational in Cincinnati this weekend were nothing to boast about, but Ball State University women's tennis coach Kathy Bull found some positive points.
"We didn't have a great weekend overall," Bull said. "But there was a lot that I did like. We have a lot to learn, and I liked that the players watched other successful teams at the tournament to see what they were doing."
Bull said the outcomes of matches early on in the tournament were frustrating.
"We had a lot of three-setters," Bull said. "A lot of our sets we lost were either 6-4 or 7-5. We got tight on the end of sets."
The Cardinals lost two doubles matches 8-6 and three singles matches in three sets on the first day of play.
Freshmen Hannah Ohman and sophomore Georgina Thomson reached the semifinals in the A doubles main bracket by defeating Xavier University's Kara Courtney and Jeanette Feider 8-6 in the round of 16 and then defeating Kennesaw State University's Vera Shkundira and Ayano Tanaka 8-5 in the quarterfinals. This was the first tournament the duo played together.
Bull said Thomson performed well and played with more control, even though she wasn't fully recuperated from last week when she suffered a minor knee injury.
Eastern Kentucky University's Sveltlana Pimenova and Alexandra Sitnikova defeated Ohman and Thomson in the final round 8-1. Pimenova and Sitnikova went on to win the doubles bracket.
In addition to Ohman and Thomson, Bull said she was impressed with Dena Boulieris and Sarah Hebble.
Boulieris won the C singles last-chance bracket and Hebble reached the B singles consolation finals before withdrawing because of an arm injury. Hebble said the injury felt better Sunday and Bull wanted her to be rested for next week's MAC Fall Invitational at Kalamazoo, Mich.
After playing better on day two, Ball State seemed to get a little fatigued, Bull said.
"Our first day at the tournament we started around 7:30 a.m. hitting and warming up and didn't get back to our rooms until a little before 9 p.m.," Bull said. "That had an effect on us later on in the invitational. Tennis is a very demanding sport and 50 percent of our team is not at 100 percent physically."
Bull said her young team isn't blaming the results on age.
"The women are taking responsibility for [Sunday] but are looking to the future for better results," Bull said.
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