By Brian Roe, Sports Writer
The ACU men’s and women’s tennis teams were dominant in the ACU Wal-Mart Open last weekend, winning nine flight championships.
The three newest members of the men’s team: sophomore Casper Steenkamp, freshman George Carstens and freshman Kevin Beedy, won championships in men’s the top three singles flights, and sophomore Rachel Taylor and freshman Holly Lindloff won the top two women’s singles flights.
“It’s good to get a taste of winning early in the season,” said head tennis coach Hutton Jones.
In women’s doubles action, sophomore Colleen Reynolds and junior Rachel Taylor won the Flight 1 championship with an 8-5 win over Rebecca Watkins and Janet Chandler of Hardin-Simmons University.
In the Flight 2 doubles championship, junior Joy Israel and junior Ashley Hawk defeated freshmen teammates Holly Lindloff and Alison Tetrick, 8-4, in the championship match.
“We were far and away the dominant team in the tournament and it was a great start for our girls to play so well,” Jones said. “I wanted us to go out and get into the mode of match play and we did it very successfully.”
In men’s doubles, senior Trent Broach and sophomore Even Puglia won the Flight 1 championship with an 8-5 victory over teammates Steenkamp and Jason Ray. ACU freshmen Carstens and Beedy won the In Flight 3 doubles title with an 8-6 win.
“This is the deepest our men’s team has ever been,” Jones said. “I was happy to see so many of our players playing each other in the finals and pleasantly surprised to see a lot of close matches.”
Jones reiterated that the fall season was a time to find out what kind of team he has in preparation for team tennis in the spring.
“It’s a long way until spring time and the fall will give us an idea of where we are,” he said.
The ACU women will host the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Regional championships this weekend at the Eager Pavilion and the Rose Park Tennis Center. Teams competing include Drury, Cameron, Eastern New Mexico, St. Edwards, Tarleton State among others.
The ACU men have this weekend off, but will travel to Springfield, Mo., on Friday Sep. 26 for the men’s ITA Regional championships.
