The men’s and women’s tennis teams finished their third tournaments of the season this past weekend. Some of the men and women traveled to Midland for their tournament.The rest of the women traveled to Memphis and the remaining men made their way to Corpus Christi.
The men at Corpus Christi weren’t able to finish their tournament due to rain. The rest of the Wildcats were more fortunate and finished both tournaments, each with numerous players performing well.
Freshmen Micah Hermsdorf and Emily Conrad both reached the finals in their singles flights at the Memphis Invitational. Hermsdorf won her flight in just two sets, 6-3, 6-3. Conrad lost her flight in a tough three-set match 1-6, 6-4, 6-1. Senior Natalie Friend also reached the final in her flight, but like Conrad, lost an intense three set match, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.
The Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational in Midland brought much success to the Wildcats. Senior Bryan Joiner and junior Eldad Campbell were both able to defeat NCAA Division I opponents in their first rounds of play before being knocked out in the second round. Campbell beat a player from University of Texas at Arlington 6-4, 6-2. Joiner beat a player from Texas Tech in an intense match 6-3, 6-7, 11-9.
Sophomore Julia Mongin topped all Wildcat performances of the weekend with a win in the singles championship at the Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational. Her road to victory was a difficult one. Mongin had to beat six NCAA Division I opponents to win the championship. She beat players from Penn State, Pepperdine, Texas-Arlington, Texas A&M, Rice and Tulsa.
“I knew I was going to be playing against very competitive players,” Mongin said. “But I knew I could beat them if I played my best.”
In her championship match, Mongin won with ease 6-1, 6-4. She became the first unseated player in the tournament’s five-year history to win the championship.
“It was possibly the biggest tournament win in ACU’s tennis history,” Coach Hutton Jones said.
The Wildcats are only three weeks into their season and have already enjoyed a significant amount of success. The women’s team stays here in Abilene next weekend for the ITA South Central Regional, while the men will travel to Waco for the Baylor Invitational.
