Ball State women’s tennis (3-2) secured a road win over Cleveland State (5-3) on Friday, bouncing back from a tough loss at home to James Madison last week.
“We just had to go back to work. It was tough to lose to James Madison,” head coach Max Norris said. “This time of year it’s all about momentum, and we had to fight super hard.”
The Cardinals couldn’t get off on the right foot in doubles, as Cleveland State dominated the point. The Vikings won the first doubles 6-1 and second doubles 6-4. Coach Norris said he is trying to find a way to get some more production out of the doubles points moving forward.
“You’re trying to find teams that have good chemistry, and you’re trying to find teams with two different types of skills. We’ve got to continue to look for the right pairs and the right people,” Norris said.
Ball State quickly recovered in singles action. Second-year Elena Malykh rolled her opponent 6-1, 6-1 in the sixth slot and first-year Annika Planisek won the fifth singles match 7-6, 6-1. Third-year Masha Polishchuk also took care of the first singles match 6-4, 6-2.
Fourth-year Jessica Braun had to go the distance in fourth singles but still ended up with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 win.
Fourth-year Amy Kaplan took care of her third singles match and rounded out the winning ways for the Cardinals in singles action.
It’s a win the Cardinals desperately needed after last week, and it came against a quality team.
“That’s a really good program. They win a lot of matches and are always near the top of their conference. It was definitely not easy,” Norris said.
And it doesn’t get any easier for the team tomorrow, as they’ll travel even further east, down Interstate 80, for another road match. This time, against the Penguins of Youngstown State.
“They’re (Youngstown State) just as good as Cleveland State. I expect an absolute dogfight. But I do think if our attitude and toughness is better, we can play better overall.”
First serve is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. in Youngstown.
Contact Caleb Zuver with comments at cmzuver@bsu.edu or on Twitter @zuves35.
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