Over the past few seasons, the Ball State men's tennis team has had its troubles with Notre Dame.
Four of the five previous matchups were decided by a score of 6-1 or worse and only the 2009-2010 matchup was real close. The Cardinals lost to the Fighting Irish 5-2 that season at the Eck Tennis Pavilion in South Bend, Ind.
In its matchup with Notre Dame on Saturday, Ball State would return to Eck Tennis Pavilion in hopes of building off of its previous matchup at the venue.
The Cardinals, however, were no match for the No. 41 ranked Fighting Irish as they lost 6-1.
Ball State coach Bill Richards said he was happy with the team's level of play despite the loss.
"I thought our level of play was pretty good," he said. "We played a team that was just stronger than we are in terms of their personnel. I thought our guys competed really well and played very hard. We would've liked to win another match or two and make some of the scores a little closer, but I think for the most part, we performed pretty well."
Junior Dalton Albertin is one player that performed well for Ball State. He scored the only point of the match for the Cardinals with a 6-3, 7-6 win over Casey Watt in No.1 singles, and he and doubles partner Ray Leonard lost a close 9-8 match to Watt and Niall Fitzgerald in No. 1 doubles.
"I think we [Albertin and Leonard] played well," Albertin said. "I got broke early in the match, but it was really close throughout. There was no point where we thought we were outmatched or anything like that. I mean, we made them play and we didn't miss that many balls. Doubles wise, I felt like me and Ray served really well, and I think that was definitely a positive.
"In singles, I was able to be pretty aggressive. I tried to come forward more, which helped that I was able to volley extremely well. I feel like I hit my forehand and move a lot better when I am able to come forward. I was able to be more relaxed today, which helped. Hopefully I can build on this and use this momentum; especially starting the Mid-American Conference season."
The rest of the team, however, wasn't able to perform as well as Albertin. They all lost their respective singles matches in straight sets, and lost in No. 2 and 3 doubles 8-4 and 8-3, respectively.
As for its opening matchup in the MAC next week against Northern Illinois, Richards said it's going to be a tough match.
"They made a statement last week when they beat Western Michigan 5-2 in the opening match of conference play," he said. "They've got some new players, and their returning players have been very solid. We know it's going to be a tough match, and we're looking forward to the challenge."
Ball State will play Northern Illinois on Saturday, April 7 at 10 a.m. in DeKalb, Ill.
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