By Brian Roe, Sports Writer
The women’s tennis team continued to prove its dominance this spring by defeating four of five Division I teams last week in Lexington, Ky.
The team started by easily dispatching Division I opponents Northern Kentucky and Wright State 9-0.
On Saturday, ACU competed against Eastern Kentucky at 8 a.m. and Kentucky at 6 p.m. The women defeated Eastern Kentucky 9-0 in another perfect match. Kentucky proved to be a tougher opponent, however. Kentucky, ranked No. 33 in the nation before this weekend, had upset 11th-ranked Northwestern earlier in the day. The ACU Wildcats were no match for the Kentucky Wildcats. Kentucky came away with a 9-0 win, but the ACU players were pleased with the team’s progress.
“Everybody played really well; we didn’t drop any matches until we played Kentucky,” senior Kristen Chumley said. “Kentucky has such a strong team; they will probably be in the Top 25 in Division I after beating Northwestern.”
Sunday’s matches also provided some entertainment, as early morning ice permitted a cancellation of the scheduled match between ACU and Western Kentucky. The Wildcats competed later that day against David Lipscomb, defeating them 9-0 and finishing the tournament with a 4-1 record.
“It was neat to play different people,” Chumley said. “We played some tough teams this weekend and all of them were Division I. I think it says a lot about our team.”
Senior Sarah Taweel said the team is now well prepared for the Lone Star Conference Tour-nament after playing tough D-I competition like Kentucky.
“We played great this weekend. Everyone is coming together and I think we can play well against other Division II teams,” Taweel said.
The team’s record stands at 9-1 on the season, the only loss coming against Kentucky. Against the other nine schools ACU played this spring, it won 80 of 81 individual matches.
The Wildcats travel to Lubbock next week to play Texas Tech and to Portales, N.M., to play Eastern New Mexico.