Wildcats win both conference tennis championships
4/24/2009 7:00:00 PM | Men's Tennis
WICHITA FALLS -- ACU head coach Hutton Jones said before the Lone Star Conference Tennis Championships began that he believed he had the two best teams in the league.
Those two teams proved him correct Friday morning as the ACU men's and women's tennis teams captured their respective LSC team championships at the Hamilton Park Tennis Center. The ACU women beat Tarleton State for the second straight year in the championship match, and did it by the same 5-0 score as in 2008.
The biggest surprise, however, might have been the ACU men's 5-3 win over defending conference champion Cameron, which entered the match ranked No. 11 in the country. The Wildcats ? who lost to the Aggies by that same 5-3 score in last year's championship match at the Eager Tennis Center on the ACU campus ? had lost 7-2 to Cameron on March 31 in Abilene. But Jones was undeterred, believing his team was the best in the league.
"I just told our guys after we lost to them late last month to not let that one loss destroy our season," he said. "I was disappointed that we didn't beat them earlier this season, but I didn't want to make too much of it then because I knew the next time we played them (in the conference title match) would be the time that it mattered the most."
And when it mattered the most, the Wildcats most experienced players put the team on their collective backs. ACU took a 2-1 lead in the match after doubles play when senior Ryan Hudson and junior Luke Hawk closed out the doubles portion of the match with an 8-5 win over Cameron's No. 1 team of Daniel Pazos and Diego Trojano, who entered the tournament ranked as the No. 15 doubles team in the nation.
"That was a huge to come through with a win in that match," Jones said. "That win set the tone for us going into singles play."
Pazos rebounded with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Eldad Campbell at No. 1 singles to tie the match at 2-2. But Hudson gave the Wildcats the lead back with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Saman Samii, and then Bryan Joiner made it a 4-2 match with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Carlos Viscarra at No. 5 singles.
Thomas Peixoto beat Quentin Peterson-Paul at No. 6 singles (6-4, 6-4) to bring the Aggies to within 4-3, but that was as close as Cameron would get. Hawk dominated Trojano at No. 4 singles and finished off the match with a 6-2, 6-3 victory that gave the Wildcats the match and the conference title.
"That win for Ryan at No. 3 singles was great, and it gave our team a lot of confidence," Jones said. "We've had a couple of matches this season come down to Luke, but those were Division I matches. It was fun to see him close this one out."
On the women's side, the Wildcats had little trouble with the TexAnns. Jones mixed up his doubles teams, breaking up his best team (Irene Squillaci and Jaclyn Walker) to spread out his best doubles players throughout the lineup. Walker teamed with Dina Pavlin to beat Natalia Yanes and Melanie Zilles, 8-5, at No. 1 doubles, while Squillaci and Cassie Carver whipped Chrissie Cooper and Jade Charlot, 8-2, at No. 2 doubles. And Lauren White and Sarah Drummond rolled past Adriana Jaskova and Evgeniya Prokofeva, 8-1, at No. 3 doubles.
Pavlin steamrolled Zilles, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 5 singles, and Walker rolled over Jaskova, 6-3, 6-0, at No. 3 singles to finish off the match.
"Tarleton is a solid team and had a great win over Northeastern State on Thursday to get into the championship match," Jones said. "But I was really impressed with the professionalism of our girls to step out on the court with a bit of a different lineup and just go play. I wanted a little more balance throughout our doubles lineup, and even though we have good players it was still a little bit scary. But Dina and Jaclyn stepped up and dominated and played really well. We took them out of it from the get-go and never looked back."
The win pushes the ACU women to 24-5 overall and makes them the host of one of two NCAA Division II Central Region championship tournaments (May 7-8). The ACU men, meanwhile, are now 25-7 on the season and could host one of two regional tournaments and possibly gain the No. 1 seed in the region.
LONE STAR CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
Friday, April 24
Championship
Women
Abilene Christian 5, Tarleton State 0
Singles ? Jaclyn Walker, ACU, def. Adriana Jaskova, TSU, 6-3, 6-0; Dina Pavlin, ACU, def. Melanie Zilles, TSU, 6-0, 6-2
Doubles ? Dina Pavlin-Jaclyn Walker, ACU, def. Natalia Yanes-Melanie Ziles, TSU, 8-5; Irene Squillaci-Cassie Carver, ACU, def. Chrissie Cooper-Jade Charlot, TSU, 8-2; Lauren White-Sarah Drummond, ACU, def. Adriana Jaskova-Evgeniya Prokofeva, TSU, 8-1.
Men
Abilene Christian 5, Cameron 3
Singles ? Daniel Pazos, Cameron, def. Eldad Campbell, ACU, 6-1, 6-3; Ryan Hudson, ACU, def. Saman Samii, Cameron, 6-3, 6-3; Luke Hawk, ACU, def. Diego Trojano, Cameron, 6-2, 6-3; Bryan Joiner, ACU, def. Carlos Viscarra, Cameron, 6-0, 7-5; Thomas Peixoto, Cameron, def. Quentin Peterson-Paul, ACU, 6-4, 6-4.
Doubles ? Ryan Hudson-Luke Hawk, ACU, def. Daniel Pazoa-Diego Trojano, Cameron, 8-5; Cristian Eaton-Thomas Peixoto, Cameron, 8-1; Eldad Campbell-Juan Nunez, ACU, def. Saman Samii-Daniel Bonamigo, Cameron, 8-4.
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