The men’s and women’s tennis team both split a pair of matches on the road this weekend, as both teams lost to Auburn University Montgomery before rebounding to defeat Columbus State University.
The men’s team played well against the No. 3 ranked NAIA power, Auburn University Montgomery, but came up short in the singles matches. ACU would win doubles against the Senators in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots. However, the Senators would rebound back winning in the top five spots in singles matches. All five of AUM’s singles victories came from players ranked in the top 50 in the nation. John Strahl was able to win the lone singles match for the Wildcats as ACU fell 6-3 to Auburn University Montgomery.
ACU would bounce back Saturday against 13th-ranked Columbus State defeating the Cougars 6-3. ACU got two wins again in doubles as Bryan Joiner and Nick Plum won in the No. 2 spot and Eldad Campbell and Alfredo Desiati won in the No. 3 spot. ACU would also win four of six singles matches to defeat the cougars 6-3.
“As a team, I think everyone is pretty tired from all the traveling we have been doing, but we were still able to go out there and win 6-3 against the 13th-ranked team in nation,” Plum, a junior, said. “The team this year has been awesome with everybody growing together.
The women’s team stayed busy playing four matches in three days. Thursday ACU split a pair of games at University of Alabama Birmingham against Samford University and UAB. ACU lost to Samford 1-4 before defeating UAB 5-2. ACU put together another solid performance in order to defeat Division I foe UAB. ACU would win the doubles point taking two of three doubles matches against the Blazers. ACU would then earn single match victories from Jaclyn Walker, Micah Hermsdorf, Emily Conrad and Natalie Friend on its way to a 5-2 victory.
The women’s team then traveled to Montgomery, Ala. to take on AUM. The No. 4-ranked Senators knocked off the Wildcats 6-3. Just like the men’s team, the women’s team would bounce back against eighth-ranked Columbus State, defeating the Cougars 6-3. ACU would win two of three doubles matches and then four of six singles matches. ACU got singles matches victories from Julia Mongin, Walker, Hermsdorf and Friend.
The men’s team improves to 13-8 overall this season, while the women’s team moves to 17-7 this season.
“The level of competition is very high right now, and we are very tired right now. The fact that we can go out there and still compete at that level is only going to prepare us,” unior Jake Hendrie said. “I say right now we aren’t even playing at our best, but we are playing as a team so that is why we are able to win. “
