By Brandon Tripp, Sports Writer
Just because it was spring break does not mean that the ACU tennis team took one. The men and women both rolled en route to a combined 8-0 record over the break. The Wildcats defeated Schreiner and St. Edward’s, as well as Lone Star Conference opponent Midwestern State and future LSC opponent Incarnate Word.
“We knew we would be playing over the break, and we just wanted to go out and play,” Juan Nuñez said.
The women began the weekend with a 9-0 thumping of Schreiner University. The Wildcats won all three of the doubles matches, one by default, by a combined score of 16-1. The singles matches were just as lopsided when the Wildcats relinquished just one point in six matches.
The Wildcats looked just as dominant in their second match of the day as they did in the first, defeating Incarnate Word University 8-1. The women took two of three doubles matches and six singles matches to give them the victory over the 33rd ranked Cardinals.
ACU scored two more victories over ranked opponents, defeating No. 22 St. Edward’s and LSC opponent Midwestern State, ranked No. 34. The undefeated weekend moves the women to 16-3 on the season and 3-0 in conference play.
“I think we did really well, and we proved that ACU is a dominant team in tennis,” Irene Squillaci said.
The men matched the women’s undefeated record, going 4-0 against the same four squads. The Wildcats scored one shutout over the weekend, putting down Schreiner University 9-0. ACU used its depth to take down the Mountaineers, using many of the reserves to complete the shutout. The closest match of the day for the Wildcats was an 8-6 win at the No. 3 doubles match, where Cody McCarty and Karl Bein took down the team of Chesnut and Franklin.
The next three wins for the Wildcats were all against ranked opponents. The men scored a 7-2 victory over No. 35 Incarnate Word, a 5-4 win against No. 23 St. Edward’s University and a 7-2 win over LSC opponent Midwestern State, ranked No. 29.
Despite dropping two of the three doubles matches against St. Edward’s, the men battled back to take four of the six singles matches to win their closest match of the day. Juan Nuñez, the No. 35 ranked player nationally, won at the No. 1 singles in straight sets 6-3, 7-6. The Wildcats also won at the No. 2, No. 4 and No. 5 singles slots to take home the 5-4 win.
After the national team rankings were released March 4, the women stood pat, keeping the No. 7 spot, while the men, despite their 18-2 record, dropped three spots to No. 20.
The women will have the weekend off before traveling next week to play Division I opponent DePaul University and Dallas Baptist University.
The men will be in action this weekend, taking on three Division I opponents in two days: Louisiana-Lafayette, Lamar and Southern Universities. Louisiana-Lafayette comes into the match against ACU with a 5-4 record and already has beaten Southern University, which the Wildcats will play Monday. The third opponent for the men will be Lamar University; the Cardinals come into the weekend at 6-6 and have dropped four of their last six matches.
“We have to stay focused,and know that every match counts on getting to nationals,” Nuñez said.
