The men’s and women’s tennis teams were in two tournaments this past weekend in Midland and New Mexico at the Aggie Invitational.
In Midland, three of the four doubles teams made it to the doubles finals. Seniors Josh Sheehy and Niko Moceanu won the men’s doubles title over Sebastian Langdon and Jonathan Sheehy 8-6. Sarah Adams and Allison Stewart lost to Texas Tech’s Sydney Jones and Olivia Peet 8-6.
ACU played teams from SMU, Texas Tech, Penn State, University of Arizona and more.
Senior Josh Sheehy and brother, junior Jonathan Sheehy, faced off in the finals.
Josh Sheehy said when the two brothers face off against one another on the court, either one of them could win.
“My brother and I always bring out the best in each other since neither one of us wants to lose,” Sheehy said. “He’s been playing really well recently, and either one of us could have ended up on top.“
Sheehy said the team had some positives at the tournament, but also some technical stuff to work on for future matches.
“As a team, we did well on making first serves to keep them on defense, then focusing on the net person, taking the first ball if possible,” Sheehy said. “On returns, we made them play every point and gave them nothing for free. We need to work on cleaning up our footwork to bring our singles up to the next level. We show a lot of promise after the first tournament.”
Senior Sarah Adams says that chemistry between doubles partners is key when it comes to playing in a doubles tournament.
“I think one of the most important parts of doubles is communication,” Adams said. “It’s super important that you and your partner stay on the same page when it comes to calling plays before the point and staying on top of things during the point. Allison and I have different games that, I think, complement each other which made it fun to put our heads together and find a way to win. Doubles is fast-paced, and there isn’t much time to dwell on mistakes.”
The teams that the Wildcats played in New Mexico were New Mexico State, Arizona, Mesa Community College, Western New Mexico University and New Mexico Military Institute.
In the doubles consolation championship, New Mexico State Nicolas Buitrago and Rosas Garcia defeated ACU’s Riley Tran and Michael Benavides 6-4. In the third place game, Aggies Louis Flores and Martin Semieck took down ACU’s Cole Lawson and Jackson Fine 6-4.
Men’s Tennis will play again at the ITA All American Championships at Tulsa University Sep. 29-Oct. 8.
Women’s Tennis will play again at the Colorado Invitational at Colorado University Sep. 28-30.
