The men’s tennis team returned home from Albuquerque, New Mexico after competing in a round-robin style tournament that featured five universities including Northern Arizona, New Mexico State, Air Force, and the hosting University of New Mexico.
Missing four of their players who competed previously in the ITA All-American, several of the men who traveled with the team played up spots in the lineup. Junior Hunter Holman, who played fourth in the lineup last year, played the number one spot this tournament and went 1-3 with a third place finish in Flight 1.
Sophomores Cole Lawson and Sebastian Langdon went 2-2 in Flight 3 and Flight 5 respectably. Langdon was the Wildcats’ top finisher at second place in his flight with straight victories against New Mexico, 6-4, 7-5, and Air Force, 6-3, 6-3. Lawson posted wins against Air Force, 6-3, 6-4, and Northern Arizona, 6-4, 6-4, for a third place finish in his flight.
Overall the men claimed 11 wins throughout the tournament, and the combined record for doubles was 4-8. The doubles team of Langdon and junior Brad Gleason and the team of Lawson and freshman Jackson Fine each finished with a record of 2-2, and the duo of Holman and junior Paul Domanski finished with a record of 0-4.
Langdon and Gleason posted wins over opposition from Air Force and New Mexico State for a third place finish in Flight 2, while Lawson and Fine defeated New Mexico and Air Force for a second place finish in Flight 3.
While the men were competing in New Mexico, the women competed at the SMU invitational this weekend in Dallas.
The Wildcat’s top finisher, sophomore Autumn Crossnoe, finished with a 2-1 record and reached the title match of her flight. Crossnoe fell to Gonzaga’s Haruna Tsuruta 6-2, 6-2, after defeating Northwestern State’s Kateryna Avram in three sets 6-3, 2-6 and 6-1, and Sam Houston’s Mila Milanovic in round 2, 6-2, 6-3.
Sophomore Jordan Henry defeated Lusie Chabonyan of UT-Arlington for third place in Flight 8, and junior Lucile Pothier claimed the consolation title, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 over the host team’s Ana Perez.
Other victories for the women included two Wildcat doubles teams posting a 1-1 record. Junior Whitney Williams and senior Erin Walker competed in Flight 1 doubles and defeated Gonzaga but fell to SMU, while the duo of Pothier and Crossnoe defeated Incarnate Word and fell to Gonzaga in Flight 3. Walker and Williams, along with freshman Elizabeth Ryan, each claimed a victory in their singles flights at the invitational.
Each team is off this week as they prepare for the ITA Regionals that begin late next week, but Lucile Pothier will be representing ACU tennis at the Oracle ITA Masters beginning this Thursday in Malibu, Calif.
