The women’s teams finished as the champions in the House of Champions Invitational with a total team score of 1,122. The men’s team finished in second place (1,108) behind IUPUI (1,383.5).
The Cardinals now sit with an undefeated 3-0 in duel meets this season along with 2-0 against Mid-American Conference opponents this season.
“We knew coming in that it was going to be a dogfight,” head coach J. Agnew said. “They are really well coached. I feel like both teams have very strong senior classes and so we knew it was going to be a battle, so it is nice to come up on top on senior night.”
Although Ball State was eliminated from postseason contention a week ago, The Cardinals hoped to finish the season strong and add another loss to the Spartans losing streak on their senior day, however, it became a defensive struggle for the Cardinals to manage from the start.
Ball State men’s and women’s swim and dive are set to go on their 2023-24 seasons after showing potential last season of what we could have in store this year with a lot of premium talent coming back from last season in preparations to go for the ultimate prize of a MAC Championship.
“It has been such a great experience,” senior goaltender Hannah Johnston said. “It is so much bigger than the sport. I think a lot of people look at it as four years of your time then you are done but I think it is so monumental, the people you meet from all across the world and the friendships you make.”
One shot from senior midfielder Emma Hilton to pull off an upset over Indiana University in a 3-2 shootout. Ball State (6-8, 2-3 MAC) remains at home for a prime conference matchup against Appalachian State (10-4, 4-1 MAC) for Senior Day Oct. 20 at 1 p.m.
The worst-case scenario for the Cardinals came to be as Bellarmine capitalized on self-inflicted errors by Ball State, sealing a 3-2 comeback win in overtime. Ball State (5-8, 2-3 MAC) remains at home for a non-conference matchup against Indiana (5-8, 0-4 Big Ten Conference) Oct. 15 at noon.
With the win, Longwood snaps a seven-game losing streak as well as improve to 1-3 in conference play. Ball State, on the other hand, moves to 2-2 in conference play as well as continue their second losing streak this season, this time moving it to three games.
Ball State's 1-0 loss to Davidson means the Cardinals slip below .500 with a 5-6 overall record. For their next contest, the Cardinals (5-6) stay on the road, traveling to Farmville, Virginia, for a conference matchup against Longwood (2-11, 0-3 Mid-American Conference) Oct. 8 at Noon.
