By Brandon Tripp, Sports Writer
The men and women’s teams were out of town this past weekend, playing road matches against top-flight teams.
The men made the long trek to Montgomery, Ala., without their No. 1 player Juan Nuñez to face off against a slew of Division II powerhouses. The Wildcats walked away from the weekend 1-2 after facing the No. 2 Valdosta State, No. 10 West Florida and No. 23 North Alabama .
In the first match against Valdosta State, the men fell behind early going down 2-1 after doubles play. The Wildcats struggled in the No. 1 doubles match, dropping it 8-3; then in the No. 3 doubles match, Eldad Campbell and Quenton Peterson-Paul got shut out 8-0 by the VSU team of Florian Halb and Otto Lenhart.
Despite the rough showing in doubles, the men competed well in singles taking four of the five losses to three sets. At the No. 2 singles spot, senior Ryan Hudson struggled to close out on Halb. Hudson had six match points in the second and third sets but could not shut the door on the feisty Halb. ACU did win the No. 6 singles match, where freshman John Strahl took down Valdosta State’s Michael Kuech in three sets 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. ACU eventually lost the match 7-2.
In the Wildcats’ second match of the day, another top 10 opponent lurked in West Florida. The Wildcats fell behind early for the second time, losing all three of the doubles matches, putting the men down 3-0. ACU again competed well in singles play, taking three of the four losses to three sets, but could not pull off the comeback. Luke Hawk scored a win for the Wildcats at the No. 3 match in straight sets, beating out Patrick Bateman 6-4, 6-1. ACU did manage to score another point at the No. 5 singles, but it was not near enough as the Wildcats dropped the match 7-2.
In their final match of the weekend, the Wildcats looked to walk away from the tournament with at least one win when they faced No. 23 North Alabama. ACU dropped two of the three doubles matches, going down for the third time in two days heading into singles play. But once the men reached singles, it was their show. ACU swept North Alabama 6-0 in singles play, allowing just two matches to make it to a third set.
The men will get the weekend off before they play crucial conference and regional matches next weekend.
The women began their tough weekend in El Paso against the hosting Miners, who came into the match 13-6 on the season. UTEP had its way with the Wildcats, taking a 6-1 victory.
The Miners jumped out to a 1-0 lead, taking two of the three doubles matches, winning at the No. 1 and No. 2 matchups. Sarah Drummond and Lauren White managed to take down UTEP’s Carolina DeLuca and Vicky Michaud 8-5, but the doubles point already was lost.
In singles play, the Wildcats faired no better, losing five of six matches to the Miners. In four of the five losses, ACU lost in straight sets. Irene Squillaci took the first set in the No. 1 singles match 6-3, but lost the next two sets 3-6 and 0-6. The only win for the Wildcats in singles play came at the No. 2 spot, when Sarah Drummond defeated Martina Trieweiler in the first set 7-6, winning the tie-breaker point 8-6. Drummond won the match when Trieweiler retired after the first set, deciding not to aggravate a lingering injury.
“Anytime you play a Division I team, it is a tough match, but that’s what makes you better,” Jones said.
The Wildcats had a chance to come home from the trip with at least one win as they faced the University of Alabama at Birmingham, which came into the match at 5-7. ACU dominated UAB, taking a 6-1 victory in its second match of the weekend. UAB came out of the gate strong, taking two of the three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead in the overall match.
The women turned it around in singles play, winning five of the six matches and taking the final match by virtue of a default. Four of the five played matches were won in straight sets. The No. 1 singles match was the only match that made it to three sets. Squillaci lost the first set in the match 6-7 but took the next two sets with ease, winning 6-1 in the second set and 10-2 in the final tiebreaker set.
The one win and one loss moved the Wildcats to 20-3 on the season. The loss to UTEP ended an 11-game winning streak by the Wildcats and was the first time the women had lost since March 2, when they took a 0-7 trouncing at the hands of another Division I opponent, the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
The women play Friday against another Division I opponent, North Texas University, at 4 p.m. in Denton. North Texas is currently 14-5 on the season.
