This weekend both the men and women’s tennis teams traveled up north to participate in competitive matches and came out successful.
The women took a short trip up to Lubbock to take on Texas- Permian Basin and the no. 17 ranked team in the nation, Texas Tech. The men traveled further up to Colorado Springs to face Metro state, Air Force, Northern Colorado, the no. 53 ranked team in the nation UC Davis.
“It’s hard to put this weekend into words,” freshman Cole Lawson said. “We knew it would be extremely tough, with back to back double headers and very challenging teams. It was definitely an adjustment, playing indoors at that altitude, when the other teams were well-adjusted to it.”
The women were successful against Texas- Permian Basin as they took every singles and doubles match completing a full sweep against them, however, they struggled against Texas Tech not being able to get a victory in singles or doubles.
Junior Erin Walker stood out in the number one spot as she defeated Lisa Roslanova from Permian 6-3, 6-2, then her singles match with Lynn Kiro from Texas Tech was unfortunately unfinished as she had won the first game 6-4 and was leading in the second 2-0 making her the only Wildcat to nearly get a victory against Tech.
In doubles, ACU won all three of their matches against Permian, but lost two against Tech with the third match being unfinished.
The men came through with a very impressive weekend as they faced four teams in Colorado and came out with a team victory against each of them.
In singles, the men won four out of six matches against Air Force, five out of six against Metro State, six out of six against Northern Colorado, and five out of six against UC Davis. Standouts for the Wildcats included freshman Josh Sheehy, junior Nico Agritely, and senior Jason Proctor.
“We lost the doubles point, but our singles pulled through and we ended up at 3-3 with Paul Domanski fighting to clinch for the huge upset against UC Davis,” Lawson said. “Immediately after he won the match, we all sprinted to him and the energy was greater than anything I’ve ever been a part of.”
Sheehy continued to impress this weekend, as he swept his singles competition four matches to none all at the number one spot. Agritely participated in his first matches since coming off of his injury and two two out of four singles victories. Proctor showed excellent senior leadership as he was able to get three singles wins out of four this weekend for the Wildcats.
In doubles, ACU took two out three matches against Air Force, three out of three matches against Metro State, three out of three against Northern Colorado, and one out of three against UC Davis. Sophomores Henry Adams and Paul Domanski stood out as they were able to get three doubles victories out of four with their partners this weekend.
“Whether or not we win, we are always enjoying our work and are so thankful that we have the opportunity to compete at this level,” Lawson said. “We are making a name for ourselves and will continue to do so. There is no other school I would rather play for or team I would rather fight side by side with than ACU, and this is just the beginning.”
The women’s team scores were a 7-0 win over Permian and a 5-0 loss to Tech. The men’s scores were a 5-2 win over Air Force, a 6-1 win over Metro State, a 7-0 win against Northern Colorado, and a 4-3 win against UC Davis.
The women’s next matches will be Wednesday, February 3rd here on campus against the University of Texas San Antonio at 12 P.M. and St. Edwards at 4 P.M. The men’s next matches will be Friday and Saturday, February 5-6 as they match up against Tyler Junior College at 3 P.M. and Trinity University at 7:30 P.M. here on campus, then will travel to Lubbock the next day to face Texas Tech at 3:30 P.M. and the University of the Southwest at 7 P.M.
