Part of ACU’s men’s tennis team split up to take on tournaments in Boise State and the ITA championships in Tulsa. Both of these tournaments included talented schools and tough matchups for the Wildcats.
The Boise State Dar Walters tournament involved eleven other schools and was headed by senior Marco Bensley along with sophomores Hunter Holman, Brad Gleason, and Henry Adams.
Bensley contributed the best singles performance, making it to the round of 32 out of 128 players. With a bye in the first round, he beat Augusto Vinueza out of Lewis-Clark State College convincingly 6-0, 6-2 before he was beat in the next round.
Adams won his first match in a three set victory before a close 7-6, 6-3 loss in the next match. Gleason and Holman both took close losses in the first round including a 6-4, 6-3 score from Holman, and a 6-4, 6-1 score from Gleason.
In doubles, Bensley and Gleason had a bye the first round and won in the second round by a score of 6-2 before they lost to Army in the third round. Holman and Adams also had a bye in the first round and earned a 6-2 victory in the second round over Montana before they lost Army as well.
“I feel really satisfied with the effort of us all and the fight we showed.” Bensley said. “It was a long tournament but we hung in there and represented for ACU Tennis very well. Fans and officials kept complimenting us on great sportsmanship and gentlemen like attitude on and off the court. That by it self is a big victory we take from this weekend.”
The prestigious ITA men’s championships held in Tulsa includes talented players from all over the country. Senior Jason Proctor, junior Nico Agritelley, and freshman Josh Sheehy received a well earned spot in the singles, as Sheehy and Agritelley got a spot for doubles.
All three of the men lost their singles matches, but were very close in each set. Doubles begins on Tuesday and we will await the scores from Sheehy and Agritelley then.
“It was a new experience for all of us.” said Sheehy. “I’m hoping we can come back next year and perform better now that we know what to expect.”
The men will bring a different team to the New Mexico Invitational this Friday and the women will be back in action in Dallas Friday taking on the SMU Invitational.
