For the second straight weekend, Ball State University faced rain delays - but Mother Nature was not enough to slow the Cardinals down. All 10 of the participating Cardinals at the Northwestern Invitational won a match this weekend with five winning at least two. Junior Shaun Bussert and freshman Austin Sansone were the only Cardinals that had deep runs in the singles tournament, which fielded competitors from 10 schools.
"We lost a lot of close matches," coach Bill Richards said. "I knew it was going to be challenging from a physical standpoint with three tournaments in a row."
Injuries ended up affecting the number of matches some Cardinals could play. Sophomore Cliff Morrison only played two matches this weekend with a stomach injury. Sophomore Derek Carpenter missed a match with an eye infection.
Some Cardinals struggled in tiebreakers including junior Eduardo Pavia who lost two matches in flight A singles.
"Tiebreakers are like coin tosses," Richards said. "They can go either way."
Bussert made it to the semi-finals in flight C singles, finishing fourth. Sansone won three matches this weekend finishing third in flight D singles. Pavia and freshman Dalton Albertin won both their matches in doubles action.
"I thought Sansone, who got to play some matches, took a step in the right direction." Richards said. "All three of our freshmen have done a good job in the fall. I think they've all established themselves."
The weather caused delays for the tournament as play had to be moved indoors Friday and Saturday.
"We did play outdoors some, but more indoor than out," Richards said. "It was a ton of matches. They were able to finish all the scheduled singles matches but only got half the doubles matches in."
Ball State finally gets a chance to rest and recover from their injuries. The next competition for the Cardinals is slated for October 16.
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