This weekend the ACU women’s tennis team will take their talents north to compete in the Oklahoma Invitational. This will be the first trip for the team to Norman, Okla. where they will face off against the largest number of regional rivals yet.
“I am really excited for this tournament! I think we have some amazing new freshman that are going to make a big impact.,” said sophomore Ansley Boarman. “I think Coach Jones has really us out hard and, even though the work is tough, we all know that we are not going to be the ones that break down first.”
Boarman, along with Nada Marjanovic, Carli Knezevich, Whitney Williams, and Lucile Pothier will compete in the Switzer Draw portion of the tournament. The Switzer Draw features 32 competitors and is much larger than the Boomer, Sooner and Stoops Draws. Erin Walker, Kaysie Hermsdorf, and Brittney Reed will represent ACU in the much smaller 16-competitor draw.
Their competition will include teams from SMU, Kansas, Arkansas, Kansas State, Denver, Wichita State, North Texas, Tulsa, and Oklahoma.
“We have the first tournament under our belt, so this tournament we expect to be more sharp and ready to compete.” said Reed.
The team is coming off of a great pair of first tournaments, the Midland Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational and the ACU Walmart Open. Although the team found defeat in the first and second rounds of the Midland tournament, Marjanovic won the singles and doubles titles at the Walmart Open, leading the rest of the ‘Cats to strong victories and top rankings.
“We expect to compete at a high level and come home with some good wins.” said Reed.
Boarman, Marjanovic’s partner in doubles, also had a strong showing at the ACU courts but, like Reed, she is already looking ahead.
“I think we are going to have some very hard matches and if we show up we will come home with many wins.” Said Boarman. “It’s all about who wants it more and I think everyone on the team wants to be noticed for our hard work.”
The team will play their first matches on Friday, September 19 at the University of Oklahoma Tennis Club’s courts.
