The Ball State ultimate frisbee team (7-7, 2-0 Eastern Plains Conference) travel to Rantoul, Illinois for the Illinois Invite. Captain Nik Risser said practices have been more intense.
“This is good to see right before the tournament,” said Risser.
Last year, the weather was a factor in all of the games. The wind would blow at roughly 30 miles per hour. According to Weather Underground, the winds will blow between 9-12 mph.
This week at practices, sophomore Emily Schloneger has been working on her catching. At the Indy Invite, Schloneger had a 69 catching percentage. She said she is looking forward to the nice weather.
“Hopefully the team does better too,” said Schloneger.
Junior Trent Schroeder had played in this tournament last year. Schroeder said the team has been able to play before the tournament.
“We are hoping that with more experience outside and better conditions this year, it should be a whole different tournament,” said Schroeder.
During practices this week, the team has been working on handler marks. At the last tournament, Schroeder had ten D’s. He said that statistic does not matter much.
“ If we can get the team better on defense, it does not really matter how much good I do,” said Schroder.
For this weekend, the Wizardz first game is against Purdue (B). The second game is against EPC foe Southern Indiana. This year, the team has never faced SIU. Risser said he wants to see his role players step up.
“We are going to shell out less minutes to all the middle tier players we had been giving experience to build depth,” said Risser. “So those players with less minutes can come in fresh and be impactful with their playing time.”
The first game is at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 1.
Patrick Murphy 