After a two-match winning streak to start off the month of February, the Ball State University women's tennis team dropped its third straight match at the University of Cincinnati.
The Bearcats swept Ball State 7-0 at the Western Tennis and Fitness Club in Cincinnati.
"We are still in a mode where we're just beating ourselves," Ball State coach Kathy Bull said.
At the No. 1 doubles spot, freshman Dena Boulieris and sophomore Georgina Thomson fell 8-5 while Sarah Hebble and Kylee Johnson suffered an 8-2 loss at No. 2 doubles. Hanna Oman and Rachel Surowiec finished the doubles competition with an 8-6 loss at No. 3 doubles.
In singles play, Bull said the team played better, but the Cardinals were still unable to come away with a victory at any of the six positions.
"Our top four singles were very competitive, but we couldn't close out the sets," Bull said. "We had the leads in the first set of a lot of matches, and we just didn't close out the set. And, the same thing happened in the second sets."
Hebble suffered a 7-5, 7-5 loss against Cincinnati's No. 1 singles player, Ksenia Slynko. Boulieris lost 7-6, 7-6 at the No. 2 spot, and Thomson fell 7-6, 6-1 at the third spot.
Despite suffering a sinus infection, Bull said, Johnson still put up a fight in a 7-5, 7-5 loss.
"I am looking forward to having my entire team healthy all on the same day. I don't know when that will happen, but it would be nice," Bull said of her illness and injury-plagued team.
Surowiec lost 6-0, 6-0 at No.5 singles, and Elizabeth Crasto lost 6-0, 6-2 at the sixth spot.
The Cardinals' next matchup will be against the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Feb. 27. Bull said she plans to have five or six practices before the Cardinals hit the road for Wisconsin.
"We are going to take a couple of days off over the weekend and then hit the conditioning trail," she said. "We need to have some more intense practices."
Ball State's record is now 3-5 heading into the match against the Panthers, who hold a 3-4 record going into their match against IUPUI on Saturday.
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