By Brian Roe, Sports Writer

ACU sophomore Colleen Reynolds overcame a near first-round loss and went on a rampage through the rest of the field last weekend, winning the Omni/ITA regional singles championship and earning an automatic bid to next month’s Omni/ITA national championships in Corpus Christi.

Reynolds defeated teammate junior Rachel Taylor, 6-4, 6-3 in the championship match to advance to the championships next month. The sophomore will play in the national tournament in Corpus Christi, Oct. 17-19. The tournament will feature the eight regional singles winners and the eight regional doubles winners from across the nation.

ACU had a solid tournament overall with three of the four singles semifinalists in Reynolds, Taylor and junior Summer Beesley. Reynolds advanced to Saturday’s championship match with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Beesley, while Taylor defeated Kristina Jones of Incarnate Word, 7-5, 6-1.

Freshman Holly Lindloff won 6-3, 1-6, 10-8 over Eastern New Mexico’s Rhiannon Torrez of for the singles consolation championship.

In doubles, the Northeast-ern State team of Berit Itschert and Holly McKee knocked off Tarleton State’s team of Alicia Cummings and Rosa Diaz-Guzman, 6-1, 6-4, to win the regional championship.

ACU next plays in Lexington, Kent. at the Kentucky Invitational on Oct. 3-5. Head tennis coach Hutton Jones said just being invited to this tournament is an accomplishment.

“It is an honor to be invited to a Division 1 tournament, especially one from a D-1 power like University of Kentucky,” Jones said. “Just imagine if the ACU football team were playing Kentucky or the basketball team. It is a really big deal and a testament of our program here at ACU.”