By Brian Roe, Sports Writer

The ACU men’s and women’s tennis teams proved this weekend that they can compete with Division I schools.

The men’s team traveled to Beaumont to play in the Lamar Invitational, while the women competed in the Arkansas Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark. Both teams hung in with some of the tougher Division I teams.

“We played pretty well overall,” said junior Trent Broach. “This tournament was a good warm-up for regionals. It’s great practice because we had good competition with mostly Division I schools.”

Evan Puglia reached the finals in the “C” bracket of the men’s draw. Puglia is one of several new additions to the men’s team this year.

“I think we could suit up a football team with as many players as we have on the guy’s team,” Jones said.

In the Arkansas Invitation-al, two women’s doubles teams had second place finishes in their draws and one girl took second in the singles draw.

“The tournament was great,” said sophomore Sum-mer Beasley. “We were the only Division II school there, but we played hard and won a lot of matches. With our new additions this year, we should be a real tough team when we start to play other Division II schools.”

The women’s team will travel to Fort Worth this weekend to participate in the Texas Christian Invitational.

“The TCU tourney is my favorite because it is close to home for me,” said Beasley, a Weatherford native. “It is also exciting because we play against some of the top players in Division I.”

Historically, the tourney has been tough with schools such as TCU, Oklahoma and Texas Tech participating. According to Beasley, though, hard work and good timing could make anything possible.

“It will be a tough tournament, but it all depends on how well we do that day,” she said.

The men’s team will compete next the weekend of Sept. 27 at the ITA Omni Regional Tournament in Springfield, Mo.

“We expect to do well this season,” said Hutton Jones, tennis coach, “and hopefully we can send someone to Nationals-that’s the ultimate goal.”