Big opportunities often come with a high risk of defeat.
Coming off their first loss in nine matches, the Ball State University men's tennis team will have a chance to rebound against one of the top teams in the country, No. 11 University of Illinois.
"We're excited at the opportunity to come out and compete against the best team we play all year," said Andres Monroy. "We know man for man we have a chance. This team is not unbeatable."
With only two matches to go before the start of Mid-American Conference play, the team doesn't want a bad loss to bring down their confidence. However, coach Bill Richards is looking past that and thinks his team is ready to go.
"We have the right approach and frame of mind to go out and compete with them [Illinois]," Richards said. "I don't think we are intimidated, but we understand from a talent and personnel level standpoint we are the underdog."
The team will travel to Champaign on Friday to take on Illinois at 1 p.m. The Illini have been ranked in the top 15 teams all year in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll.
Illinois enter Friday's match with a 7-5 record on the season. Their record doesn't reflect the team's overall talent. All 12 of their matches have been against teams ranked in the top 50 of the ITA poll.
"This is our last chance to beat a Big Ten school this year," Monroy said. "The first thing is to believe in ourselves. We need to come out with energy and fight the entire match to compete."
One common opponent between the two teams is Northwestern University. Illinois played Northwestern in their last match and beat them 7-0. In Ball State's opening match of the season, the team lost 7-0 to Northwestern.
"Our whole approach is for every individual to play to prove something," Richards said. "Its not about winning or losing, it is about giving yourself a chance to win."
All year, the Cardinals have lived and died with their doubles play. This match is no different.
Richards believed the key to an upset would be winning the doubles point.
"When you're on the road, it is especially difficult to win four singles matches," Richards said. "You have to find a way to give yourself a shot to win. From a realistic standpoint, the doubles point is huge to pull off an upset."
This will be especially important against the Fighting Illini because the team has three players ranked in the top 80 in singles play.
If the matchups go according to performance level, Monroy will likely draw one of the three at the No. 3 spot in singles.
"I try not to think about the rankings going in to the match," Monroy said. "These guys are not unbeatable. If everyone comes out and plays their game, we can be the better team than them [Friday]."
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