The season might be done for Ball State University's men's tennis team, but the 2010 season starts right after the school year ends.
With summer vacation, the eight returning tennis players on Ball State's roster will hit the road playing individual tournaments. The summer of 2009 will affect Ball State's spring season in 2010.
"Our guys have to play this summer," coach Bill Richards said. "The level of play they face this summer could make or break our season next year."
Offseason tournaments are not affiliated with the university. Any improvement for the eight retuning players will be huge for Ball State's chances of winning the Mid-American Conference title in 2010. This season, Ball State had six players playing collegiate tennis for the first time; 80 percent of its roster was comprised of sophomores and freshmen. Yet with all this youth, the Cardinals came within three match points of winning the MAC outright. With a more experienced team coming back next year, Ball State might be in a better position to win the conference.
"We have a lot of promise for next year," Richards said. "We have a good nucleus of young players. Our expectations are pretty high given our past success. It comes with our history."
The Cardinals finished the year 11-11 and in a three-way tie for second place in the MAC. The conference is becoming more competitive as the University of Toledo and Northern Illinois University make gains. Western Michigan University and Ball State can no longer cakewalk to the MAC's top two spots, Richards said.
"The league is becoming more balanced," Richards said. "Western Michigan barley beat Toledo in the finals. We didn't take Northern Illinois seriously and that's part of the reason why they beat us."
Next year, Ball State will be led by Eduardo Pavia, who will enter his junior season. Pavia has defeated ranked players this season against the University of Memphis and Sacramento State University and won MAC Player of the Week twice. Andres Monroy and Cliff Morrison will become sophomores after successful freshmen seasons. With seniors Jose Perdomo and Jorge Rodriguez graduating, the Cardinals will have two big holes to fill in their lineup. Sophomore Shaun Bussert and freshmen Zane Smith and Derek Carpenter are likely candidates to fill the void.
Winning close matches will be important for Ball State next season as the Cardinals couldn't come through in the tight matches this season, Richards said.
"The close matches are the ones you remember the most and we lost more of the close ones than we won," Richards said.
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