For the Ball State University women's tennis team, health problems haven't been an issue for most of the season.
But now in the midst of a four-game losing streak, the injury bug may have bitten the team at just the wrong time.
Junior Hayley Hall was surprisingly kept out of last weekend's match against Cincinnati due to an undisclosed injury. Losing her proved to be a tough blow to the team as they lost 6-1.
Junior Georgina Thomson has also been nursing a sore knee all week.
Nevertheless, coach Amy Behrman is still hopeful that her entire team will be healthy and ready to play against the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay on Friday at the Muncie YMCA center.
"Hayley did pretty well [Thursday] in practice, at least for the most part," Behrman said, "We'll see how she feels before the match. Georgina has had a few problems and has been limited in practice, but I think she'll be OK. Other than that, everybody is fine."
The coach said Hall will be regulated only to a singles match if she is able to play.
Injuries aside, Behrman said she still isn't happy with the way her team has been playing, especially after last week's loss.
"I wasn't pleased with the effort. I don't know if it was Hayley out of the lineup, but it wasn't good enough," she said. "We've been working on certain drills in practice all week, just to find out who's going to fight when they're out there."
Green Bay, like most of Ball State's opponents, comes into the match with a losing record.
Behrman said that the team needs better focus in order for it to get back to winning matches, no matter who the opponent is.
"I'm just hoping mentally, depending on what happens with Hayley and Georgina, that the team goes out and realizes that it's just tennis," Behrman said.
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