ABILENE – An excellent fall season bolstered by the return of seven letter winners earned the Abilene Christian women's tennis team a No. 3 national ranking from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association in its annual preseason poll.
Armstrong Atlantic and BYU-Hawai'i are the only teams ranked ahead of the Wildcats, while Lynn and Barry round out the top five. ACU is also one of five Lone Star Conference teams nationally ranked along with Cameron (No. 11), Tarleton State (28), Incarnate Word (29) and Midwestern State (38).
The Wildcats combined for a 70-37 (.654) record in singles and 73-38 (.658) mark in doubles this past fall, and were led most of the season by senior
Julia Mongin, who begins her final spring as the nation's No. 5 singles player. In producing a 19-9 overall record, Mongin won both the south central regional singles and doubles titles and later placed fourth in both draws at the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships.
Mongin and her partner, sophomore
Brittney Reed, won the regional doubles championships behind a 5-0 record and earlier went 3-1 to place third at the Kansas Invitational. Mongin and Reed will start the spring ranked fifth in doubles, while last year's all-America duo of
Hannah Kelley and
Micah Hermsdorf begins at No. 14.
Hermsdorf is ranked 31st in singles after going 10-5 in the fall. Highlights for the junior included a semifinal appearance at regionals, third-place finish at Kansas and runner-up showing at New Mexico State. She and Kelley went 8-5 in doubles, reaching the regional quarterfinals and placing fifth at the Rice Invitational.
