The men’s tennis team won the Western Athletic Conference championship last week over Grand Canyon University and will make a run for the national championship.
“This team has been incredible,” Head Coach Juan Nuñez said. “We’re young, with only two guys returning from the 2022 championship team, but everyone stepped up. Whether they were on the court or cheering from the bench, every guy had a purpose.”
Being the third seed in the tournament, ACU had a challenging road, needing to overcome the University of Texas-Arlington and GCU.
UTA defeated them twice earlier in the season, but when it mattered most, the Wildcats delivered. The team rallied back to claim the WAC title after going down 2-0 to UTA in the semifinals and losing five of six opening sets in the finals.
“It was a complete team effort,” Nuñez said. “From the doubles team of Alex and Ethan saving five match points to Tommy, a freshman, clinching both the semifinal and final matches, everybody had a role, and they owned it.”
Key senior leadership from Daniel Morozov, senior from Joliet, Illinois, and Benjamin McDonald, senior from Plano, played a pivotal role. Morozov, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, turned the tide by winning his singles matches against opponents he had previously lost to, while McDonald’s late-season surge solidified the lineup.
Now, the Wildcats are preparing for the national tournament with a purpose.
“We get two more weeks together,” Nuñez said. “These guys love being around each other. We’re representing ACU, Abilene and West Texas… and that means something to us.”
Nuñez said belief is their secret weapon.
“I’ve always been dumb enough to think we can beat anybody on any given day,” he said. “We’ll just keep being who we are, fight for every point, and let the rest take care of itself.”
Nuñez addressed potential doubts about the team’s success.
“There’s a lot of people that didn’t think we could win the conference tournament and having to beat two great teams,” he said. “We just went and did it, and against a lot of odds.”
On Monday at 4:30 p.m. the Wildcats will find out who and where they will play in the NCAA national tournament. The selection show will be broadcast on NCAA.com.
