Ball State University Athletics
Men's Tennis Hosts Valparaiso and IUPUI Saturday
January 25, 2012 | Men's Tennis
Ball State hosts Valparaiso and IUPUI
January 28, 2012/2 p.m./7 p.m.
Next Up for the Cardinals: Xavier, February 4 at 1 p.m.
Home Indoor Matches: Muncie YMCA Tennis Center
2011 Mid-American Conference Tournament Champions
Ball State vs. Valparaiso and IUPUI: The Cardinals after opening the spring 2012 season on the road with back-to-back Big Ten opponents will now host two matches Saturday against in-state rivals IUPUI and Valparaiso. Ball State defeated both the Jaguars and the Crusaders last season. The Cardinals welcome back former player and alumnus Jim Daughtery. Daugherty played varsity tennis at Ball State University from 1974-1977, where he played as high as number one singles and number one doubles. Daugherty captained the team during both his junior and senior season with the Cardinals. He is in his 26th season at Valparaiso.
Ball State Match Recap: The Cardinals opened spring play with two losses on the road at Northwestern and Illinois. Despite the losses Alexandre Brym took down Northwestern's Tobias Reitz in straight sets (6-1, 6-4) at No. 4 singles. The Ball State twosome of Zane Smith and Derek Carpenter beat No. 17 ranked Illinois' doubles tandem of Roy Kalmanovich and Stephen Hoh by a score of 5-2 at the No. 2 slot.
A Look Back at 2010-11: Ball State has now won 19 regular season championships and 17 tournament titles in program history, including 16-undefeated MAC seasons. Ball State has participated in the MAC for the last 37 years. The Cardinals have played in seven NCAA tournaments, five of those were as MAC Tournament champions. The legacy began in 1984 after the Cardinals posted a 19-5 overall record and an 8-0 stint in league play. Since the MAC tournament format started in 1997, the Cardinals have won the league tournament six times (1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2011).
Richards Hires Former Player Jared Epkey As Graduate Assistant: Epkey earned his bachelor's degree from Ball State in May 2008. He transferred from Southern Indiana at the conclusion of his freshman year to play tennis for Richards at Ball State as a sophomore ( 2006) and as a junior (2007). He was unable to compete in the dual match play as a senior (2008) due to a back injury. Epkey along with teammate and brother, Tony managed a 25-8 doubles mark while going undefeated in the Mid-American Conference (5-0) in 2005-06. Epkey also garnered MAC Player of the Week honors in April of 2006 after being an integral part of the Cardinals claiming their 19th Mid-American Conference regular season title after going undefeated in both singles and doubles against Northern Illinois.
Quote From Head Coach Bill Richards: After 2 weeks on the road against Big Ten team teams we are looking forward to playing at home. Both Valparaiso and IUPUI will be tough opponents. With a limited number of players due to injuries it will be a challenging day for our team but will be ready.
