The Ball State University women's tennis team will play host to a relatively new opponent today at the YMCA Tennis Center in Muncie.
Ball State will face off against the Crusaders of Valparaiso University at 1 p.m.
The Cardinals just added the Crusaders to their regular season schedule in recent years, and they have gotten the better of the matchup the past two times the teams met. Last season the Cardinals defeated Valparaiso 6-1 in Muncie. In 2007 the Cardinals won with the same score, but the matchup was at Valparaiso.
Ball State enters this year's match even at 2-2 on the season, while Valparaiso has yet to win a match at 0-2.
Despite the record of the opponent, coach Kathy Bull said she still considers the Crusaders to be a good opponent for her team.
"They are always a good scrappy bunch," Bull said of the Crusaders. "Their No. 1 singles girl is a good strong player. She gave us some trouble last year."
Bull also said that the performance of the Cardinals is more of a point of emphasis for her team than the quality of opponent.
"I am more concerned about what we do on the court at a home match," Bull said.
The lineup for the Cardinals will be different than that of their last matchup against IUPUI in Muncie last week.
Hayley Hall will be back in the lineup after taking a break from the previous match. Hall will not play in doubles competition, however, she is expected to make her third appearance on the singles side of competition, playing at the No. 4 spot for the Cardinals.
"We just go based on how I feel at the time," Hall said. "We kind of picked out matches that I want to play in. One's that I can be most beneficial to the team in."
Freshman Sarah Hebble will remain at the No. 1 position, where she has played in every dual match this season.
The match against Valparaiso will mark the beginning to a loaded week for Ball State. After the Cardinals play host to the Crusaders, they will have three days until their first double header of the season.
The Cardinals will travel to Indianapolis on Saturday to take on Murray State University before coming back to Muncie on Sunday to play host to the Braves of Bradley University.
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