After missing out on win No. 600 against Notre Dame and Mid-American Conference foe Northern Illinois, Ball State coach Bill Richards got it on the third try Sunday as Ball State defeated Chicago State 7-0. The win moves the Cardinals record to 15-8 on the season and 1-1 in conference play.
"I am proud of [the 600th win], but most of all, it makes you think about all the players that have played for you and all the different teams through the years," Richards said. "It's really not about me at all. I didn't play any one of those 600 matches I won. The players won the matches. It's a program and team effort."
Freshman Ray Leonard said it's a tremendous honor to be apart of Richards' legacy.
"I know he downplays the whole aspect of counting victories, but it really is quite an achievement," he said. "Not many people have the privilege to be considered in the record books, and it's really great we're a part of that."
The Cardinals won all of the singles and doubles matches against Chicago State after they lost all of their singles matches against Northern Illinois on Saturday. Leonard, junior Dalton Albertin and junior Austin Sansone rebounded from their three-set losses against Northern Illinois with victories in straight sets.
On Saturday, Ball State had a perfect start to its matchup with Northern Illinois.
The Cardinals began the match with a 1-0 lead after they picked up the doubles point. Albertin and Leonard defeated Dor Amir and Axel Lagerlof 8-3 in No. 1 doubles while seniors Derek Carpenter and Zane Smith defeated Maximilian Phillips and Frederic Cadieux 8-2 in No. 2 doubles.
Momentum seemed to be in Ball State's favor, but Northern Illinois would soon negate any momentum it had.
The Huskies would win all six singles matches, four of which came in three sets, and gave the Cardinals a 6-1 defeat and a 0-1 record to start conference play.
"It was a disappointing loss for us," Richards said. "We got off to a good start winning the doubles point, but things just turned around in singles. We definitely had some windows of opportunity, but unfortunately for us, we couldn't finish those matches."
One of those matches came at the No. 2 singles position. Leonard lost to Roman Turtygin 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 after having a chance to serve for the win in the second set.
"He found a way to creep back into the match," Leonard said. "It's tough, but it's one of those things where you grow as a player having been in those situations."
Richards said as the team prepares for Toledo and Western Michigan this week, being as healthy as possible is the top priority.
"Right now, it's finding the right balance between making sure you get the workload in you need to get, but making sure you've recovered from this tough weekend and the long year we've had so far," he said.
Ball State plays Toledo at 3 p.m. on Thursday at the Cardinal Creek Tennis Center and Western Michigan at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Kalamazoo, Mich.
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