In its final fall competition this weekend at the Alabama Fall Invitational in Tuscaloosa, Ala., the Ball State men's tennis team looked to finish on a high note going into its spring schedule.
By the end of the tournament Sunday, however, Ball State found itself in the familiar situation of having mixed results.
Coach Bill Richards said despite the mediocre results, he was satisfied with his team's play.
"I think we had some great days of match play and we've gotten a lot out of it," he said.
Friday, on the opening day of the tournament, Ball State had a 7-2 record in singles play and a 2-3 record in doubles. Leading the way for the Cardinals in singles action were sophomore Austin Smith, junior Dalton Albertin and senior Zane Smith. Austin Smith and Zane Smith won their respective matches against Tulane and Davidson in straight sets while Albertin won his match against Alabama in three sets.
In doubles, junior Alex Doherty and freshman Patrick Elliott won their match 8-4 against Chattanooga while Austin Smith and junior Alex Brym won their match 8-1 over Davidson.
Saturday, during its second day of play Saturday, Ball State won five of its 14 combined matches. All wins for the Cardinals came at the hands of Doherty and Elliott. In singles, Doherty defeated Samford and South Alabama in the Hannah Consolation Draw, while Elliott defeated Southern Miss and Furman to advance to the finals of the Ingram Draw on Sunday.
Doherty and Elliott provided the lone win for the Cardinals in doubles by defeating Southern Miss 9-7 in the second round of the White Draw. They lost to Alabama 8-1 in the third round.
Richards said the doubles teams have work to do going forward into the spring.
"We haven't won as many matches as we would've liked, and I don't think we've played as well in doubles as we need to," he said. "I think we recognize we're still looking at different options and searching for exactly where we want to go, and it continues to be from an individual standpoint what things we need to work on man for man."
The final day of the Alabama Fall Invitational Sunday saw Ball State go 1-1 in singles. Doherty lost his final round match to NC State in the Hannah Consolation Draw, while Elliott defeated Furman in the final round of the Ingram Draw.
Elliott said the keys to his success this weekend were his service game and self-control.
"I served well, and I controlled all the matches I played," he said. "I never really felt any pressure. And I stayed patient until the right opportunity came."
As for preparing for the spring schedule, Richards said he will "evaluate each player's game and work on their weaknesses."
"For us, with seniors Cliff Morrison and Andres Monroy out, it puts a tremendous amount of responsibility on everyone on the team," he said. "We just have to work hard, be the best we can be and try to compensate individually for them not playing."
Ball State will begin its spring schedule Jan. 15 when it travels to Evanston, Ill. to play Northwestern. First serve is at 2 p.m.
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