By Michael Freeman, Sports Writer
Last week, the women’s tennis team stormed the competition in its path to the Lone Star Conference tennis championship with a 5-4 win over Northeastern State University. The men’s team lost in the final to Midwestern State University 5-3.
On Thursday, the tennis teams traveled to Wichita Falls to compete in the Lone Star Conference Championships, both holding the No. 1 seeds in their respective draws. The women demolished the University of Eastern New Mexico in their quarterfinal match, 5-0. ACU refused to surrender a single set against Eastern New Mexico.
Next, the women took on the Lady Mustangs of Midwestern State University and also downed the team handily 5-0. With the victory, the Wildcats advanced to the championship match against Northeastern State University. Northeastern State had handled East Central University 5-0 and Tarleton State University 5-3 on its way to the final match.
ACU and Northeastern State squared off Friday for the conference title and the right to host the NCAA Division II Central Regional tournament on May 4-5.
The Wildcats ran into trouble early by losing two out of the three doubles matches. Elizabeth Korinek and Sarah Drummond gave the Wildcats their lone doubles win. Down 2-1, the women turned to their singles play. Irene Squillaci, Sara Baker and Sarah Drummond delivered three necessary victories for ACU, but Meagan Brown and Holly Lindloff fell in their hard-fought matches.
The match was tied at 4-4 when Lana Pavlin of ACU and Amanda Stone of Northeastern State remained on the court. After a tiebreaker and a Northeastern medical timeout, Pavlin won 7-6, 4-6, 5-2 (retired). Head coach Hutton Jones said he was proud of the women’s gutsy 5-4 comeback victory.
“We dug ourselves a hole,” he said. “But we didn’t lie down and quit. It showed a lot of maturity to come back and get the win.”
Jones also said he was satisfied that the year-long conditioning and workouts leading up to the marathon championship match became a deciding factor in the win.
“We’re never going to lose a match because the other team is in better shape,” he said. The women have a record of 28-6 after the conference tournament.
The men received a first-round bye in the tournament and took on the University of Central Oklahoma in the semifinals, a team that had defeated ACU on April 8.
The men got off to a quick start by winning all three doubles matches and polished off Central Oklahoma 5-2. Jones said beating Central Oklahoma in the tournament was both impressive and satisfying.
The Wildcats then advanced to the final match against Midwestern State University on Friday. The duo of Casper Steenkamp and George Carstens got ACU off on the right foot by winning a doubles match 8-5. Kevin Beedy and Juan Nunez followed up with a doubles victory of their own, winning 8-1. However, ACU lost its other doubles match. Heading into singles play, the Wildcats still held a 2-1 lead. But Midwestern State held out against the Wildcats.
At the end of the day, Midwestern State took the championship with a 5-3 win.
“I was pleased with the way we competed,” Jones said. “We played well, but not our best.”
Despite the loss, Jones said the Wildcats will be prepared if they meet Midwestern State again in the Regional tournament.
“We’re not afraid,” Jones said. “Our matches are close, but there’s no lack of confidence of whether or not we can beat them.”
The men’s record is now 20-10.
The ACU Alumni Weekend match play is next on the tennis schedule. This Friday and Saturday, both tennis teams will take on ACU tennis alums in competitive matches. But, the main focus for the Wildcats is the NCAA Division II Central Region championship tournament on May 4-5.
