The Ball State Wizardz Ultimate Frisbee team (3-1) will travel to Indianapolis for the Indy Invite on March 24-25.
Unlike at the 2018 Music City Tune-Up where the weather condition was sunny, the Wizardz have to deal with windy conditions, rain and snow. Team Captain Nik Risser said the weather will suck for this tournament.
“But all the teams will play in it,” Risser said. “We’ve been practicing for bad conditions so we just need to take care of business and not let it affect us more than it should.”
If the Wizardz do not let the weather affect them, then they might have a chance of winning the tournament. Since the Music City Tune-Up, Risser said his team has been working on “the little things.”
“Although we weren’t able to work on everything we wanted to because we were given a chaotic practice schedule, we focused on little things that would improve the kinks we saw at the last tournament,” Risser said. “We focused on defensive intensity and throwing and playing in adverse conditions.”
At these practices, some of the players have worked on their throws. Freshman Bradley Kennis has improved on his backhand to prepare for the Indy Invite.
“I used to play tennis so now that I’m playing ultimate the motion is different,” Kennis said. “You want to keep your arm level when you’re going across, but in tennis you’re trying to go up over your right shoulder.”
After beating the No. 77 ranked Alabama Huntsville Nightmares and No. 156 ranked team Vanderbilt Armada in Nashville, Kennis said he’s super excited to play this weekend.
“I think everyone on the team is a little upset that we couldn’t finish that tournament out,” Kennis said. “ I think we’re going to be itching for some big wins.”
Throws and working in adverse conditions is going to be key for the Wizardz this weekend. In Pool B, the Wizardz will face the No. 2 seeded Purdue, No. 3 seeded Tennessee and No. seeded 7 Missouri.
The first game is at 9 a.m. against Purdue at World Sports Park.
Patrick Murphy 