By Brandon Tripp, Sports Writer
After a successful fall campaign, the Wildcats are gearing up for a new tennis season full of high expectations.
“We laid some good foundation in the fall with our success, and now we are looking to put that towards the team season,” said Hutton Jones, head women and men’s tennis coach.
Both teams are set to begin the spring season this weekend. The men will travel to Las Cruces, N.M., Sunday to take on Northern Arizona University and New Mexico State University, and the women will travel to Huntsville to battle Lee College and Sam Houston State University.
“It is a little hard to go in [to matches] when other teams have already played a match or two,” Jones said.
The men will take on two NCAA Division I teams in Northern Arizona and New Mexico State. This is the first match of the season for the Wildcats and their first match since the national championships in the fall. The Northern Arizona Lumberjacks come into the match against ACU 0-4 to start off their spring season, losing to big-name Division I schools such as Oregon and Arizona University. The New Mexico State Aggies have not played a match yet this season and will first play Northern Arizona Saturday, one day before the Wildcats get a shot at either opponent
“I know New Mexico is a really good team,” said men’s tennis player Juan Nuñez. “It’s going to be a close match this weekend for us.”
The women will travel to Huntsville, home of Sam Houston State, to take on top tier junior college opponent Lee College before tangling with Division I opponent Sam Houston State. Their first opponents, the Lee College Lady Rebels, have yet to play in the spring and will face a highly touted ACU team that ranks sixth in the country. The Sam Houston State Lady Bearcats have played one match this season against nationally ranked Rice University. The Wildcats will have a quick turn around, playing two more matches on Monday against Lone Star Conference opponent South Eastern Oklahoma State and Division I opponent Southern Methodist University.
The men and women are both coming off impressive seasons where both teams sent players to the National Wilson/ITA Small College National Championship tournament.
Juan Nuñez and Ryan Hudson represented the men as the No. 1 doubles team in the tournament. The pair made it to the semifinals before losing to the eventual national champions.
The women sent Irene Squillaci to nationals for the women’s singles tournament. Irene was knocked out in round one against the No. 2 seed in the tournament, but made it all the way to the consolation championships before being knocked out in the fifth place match.
Nuñez finished the fall season ranked 22nd in men’s singles and sixth in men’s doubles with doubles partner Hudson.
Squillaci finished the season ranked No. 21 in women’s singles along with fellow Wildcats Jaclyn Walker, No. 35, and Sara Drummond, No. 45. Squillaci and Walker also finished the season ranked No. 16 in women’s doubles.
The women will begin the spring season ranked No. 1 in the South Central Region and in the top 10 in all of Division II. The men open the spring season ranked No. 2 in the South Central Region and No. 19 in the country. Both teams feel they have a shot at winning the national title this year. The key to making a run at the national title this season is players learning what it means to be on a team, said Coach Jones who thinks they have made strides towards accomplishing that.
“We plan to end this thing in Orlando at nationals,” Jones said.
