The ACU men’s and women’s tennis teams both defeated Cameron University in different fashions on Wednesday in the first home matches for ACU in more than a month.
The men overcame shaky doubles play to defeat the Aggies 5-4, the final and deciding point won by junior Jake Hendrie.
“It’s always exciting when the overall team win comes down to one point,” said sophomore Hans Hach. “We needed that point, and Jake really pulled it out.”
The men’s No. 1 and No. 3 doubles teams lost their matches, placing the Wildcats in a slight 1-2 hole before singles play began. Hach, sophomore Alfredo Desiati, and senior John Strahl each won their singles contests before Hendrie’s three-set match came to an exciting close. The final match carried extra weight for the Wildcats because the overall team victory means ACU will host NCAA regional competition at the end of the month.
“It’s great that we will host regionals because we don’t get to play at home much,” said junior Eldad Campbell. “All the guys on the team are really playing well, and it’ll be good for people to come out and see us then.”
Of his own match on Wednesday, Campbell said his adversary put up an admirable effort.
“My opponent played really well,” he said. “I can do better, and it was a close match at 7-6, 7-6, but he had great serves all match.”
On the women’s side, the No. 6 Wildcats swept every point against Cameron, 9-0, showing ACU’s team strengths, said freshman Emily Conrad.
“Cameron is ranked second in the conference, and this dominant win shows all the other teams in the conference just how good we are,” Conrad said. “It really gives us a lot of confidence going into the post-season.”
The women already had clinched home-court advantage for regionals and will head into the Lone Star Conference Championships with a perfect 7-0 conference record. Freshman Micah Hermsdorf said today’s matches bring the regular season to an end on a high note for both teams.
“We did this as a team,” Hermsdorf said. “Every match counted, and we all played a part in this win. We stayed tough and loose, and we played well.”
The Conference Championships will be played in Oklahoma City next weekend, April 22-23. Regionals will take place the next weekend, and the National Championships take place mid-May.
Both squads went to nationals last year.
