Mid-American Conference standings
- Western Michigan (11-4)
- Ball State (10-4)
- Northern Illinois (10-5)
- Buffalo (5-4)
- Toledo (3-9)
- Binghamton (3-10)
Ball State men's tennis begins Mid-American Conference play after roughly eight weeks of nonconference matches. Ball State (10-4) has one goal in mind concerning the MAC portion of its season.
At the beginning of the season, the Cardinals said they wanted to win the MAC Championship, but for head coach Bill Richards, he just wants his team to "focus on one match at a time."
“Every match, you have to play with a mentality that it’s for the championship,” Richards said. “If you don’t have that mentality then you’re not going to get the job done. It’s just one match at a time and playing every match like it’s for the conference championship.”
Coming into these matches, Ball State is second in the MAC, just behind No. 45-ranked Western Michigan. The Cardinals will face the Broncos in three weeks, on April 7. But for now, the team is focusing on the matches this weekend against Binghamton (3-10) and Northern Illinois (10-5).
To prepare for MAC play, junior Conner Andersen and the team have worked on their serves in practices. Andersen said his serves get him on the right foot to win matches.
“We have been hitting thousands and thousands of serves,” Andersen said. “ I feel like my arms will fall off. But it prepares us for singles and doubles.”
This preparation has shown on the court. According to the season statistics, Andersen has a record of 7-4 in singles play, which places him fourth on the team. Andersen considers himself to be a “very dependable player” for the team.
Moving forward to the pair of matches this weekend, freshman Bryce Bonin said he has worked on his conditioning and groundstrokes in practice.
“We have got to be ready and be focused during practices this week,” Bonin said. “I have just been working hard, encouraging the team to work hard and just preparing for the matches coming up.”
The Cardinals begin MAC play March 17 against Binghamton and March 18 against Northern Illinois.
Contact Patrick Murphy with comments at prmurphy2@bsu.edu or on Twitter at @PMURPH505.
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