By Michael Freeman, Sports Writer
Last weekend, the ACU tennis teams hosted and defeated three challenging teams in the Wildcat Invitational.
On Friday, the Wildcats defeated Hardin-Simmons University with both men and women winning 8-1. On Saturday, the women overpowered East Central University 6-3 and Incarnate Word University 9-0. The men crushed East Central 9-0 and Incarnate Word 6-3.
The women improved their record to 18-3. And the men upped their record to 12-4.
“Overall, I feel like we did as expected,” said head coach Hutton Jones.
The Wildcat Invitational kicked off last Friday with the ACU women taking on the Cowgirls of Hardin-Simmons. Save from one doubles match, the women scorched the Cowgirl competition with an impressive 8-1 victory. Lana Pavlin and Meagan Brown both recorded dominating 6-0, 6-0 singles wins. The following day, the Wildcats downed regional opponents East Central and Incarnate Word, with the scores 6-3 and 9-0 respectively.
“I was real happy with several of our matches,” Jones said. “I feel we need to have more intensity to start out our matches, but the girls are maturing. I feel everyone is getting comfortable. We’re solid all the way through our line-up. That is our strength.”
Also on Friday, the Wildcat men defeated Hardin-Simmons 8-1. The next day, ACU pounded East Central 9-0 without dropping a set. But then the men faced Incarnate Word. The Wildcats began the match-up by losing all three doubles matches.
Finally, Casper Steenkamp delivered Abilene Christian’s first win of the match-up in the singles play with a 6-3, 6-1 victory.
“It was a war out there,” Jones said. “It was nice to see Casper [Steenkamp] get the momentum going. It made everyone else think, ‘Hey, we can do this.'”
The team used that momentum to reel off five straight singles wins. But the wins did not come easily. Jason Ray survived a dramatic 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 comeback match. Ryan Hudson also endured a three-set thriller.
“This match was such a confidence booster. It’s never over because we always have a chance,” Jones said.
This Wednesday the tennis teams go on the road. The women play North Central Texas Junior College and the University of North Texas in Denton. The men take on Southeastern Oklahoma State and top Division I schools Baylor University and Texas Christian University. Then during the weekend, both Wildcat teams participate in the Blue-Gray Classic in Montgomery, Ala.
“They invite all of the best Division II teams to this tournament,” Jones said. “I feel very honored to be invited. It’s going to be good for us.”
