MALIBU, Calif. - Abilene Christian's nationally ranked men's and women's tennis teams completed their regular seasons on a winning note Sunday as each squad defeated UC San Diego at Pepperdine's Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.
ACU's sixth-ranked women enter the postseason at 21-3 after beating the No. 21 Tritons, 8-1, while the 16th-ranked men doubled up the No. 19 DII team in the country, 6-3, to finish their spring at 17-8.
The women's result is a carbon copy of many previous victories as it lifted their season record against DII competition to 13-0, all of which have been by a margin of 8-1 or 9-0. The Wildcats began by winning two of three doubles, and then marched through six singles matches in which no opponent scored more than three points at any position.
Hannah Kelley finished first with her "double bagel" victory at No. 6 vs. Krystal Mizuguchi, and was quickly followed to the sideline by
Laura Mongin,
Micah Hermsdorf, and second-ranked
Julia Mongin, who extended her season-best winning streak to 13 with a 6-1, 6-0 decision over Melissa Breisacher at the top line.
Brittney Reed kept her hold on the team's lead in victories (21) after beating Katie Mulloy at the No. 4 position, 6-3, 6-0, and then
Emily Conrad completed the singles sweep with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Samantha Yeung.
The men's match was a bit more competitive from a spectator perspective as half of the six singles matches went to three sets, while several other sets were decided by two points or less. Freshman Borja Cortes once again clinched the decisive point with a 6-4, 6-4 decision at the No. 3 spot over Junya Yoshida.
ACU grabbed a 2-1 lead coming out of doubles and further added to it after
Alfredo Desiati dispatched Sam Ling at No. 4, 6-3, 6-0, and
Hans Hach beat Chapman Chan at No. 1, 6-4, 6-2. Hach improved to 19-4 with the victory and is 8-2 over his last 10 matches at No. 1.
Hach also won again with
Nick Plum at No. 1 doubles, beating Devon Sousa and Austin West, 8-5. Hach and Plum are currently ranked among the top-10 tandems in DII as they finished their regular season at 10-0.
Plum, however, could not repeat his success in singles, falling in three sets to Max Jiganti at No. 2, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4. Jiganti's win cut ACU's lead to 4-2, but then Cortes closed his match to seal the Wildcat victory.
Sousa defeated
Michael Morris at No. 6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 to earn UCSD's final point, but that's as close as the Tritons would get as
Guilherme Gesser responded with a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 comeback win vs. Kona Luu.
ACU's postseason begins this weekend with the
Lone Star Conference Championship, which will take place April 20 to 21 in Southland, Texas.
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#6 Abilene Christian 8, #21 UC San Diego 1
Apr 15, 2012 at Malibu, CA (Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1.
Julia Mongin (ACUW) def. Melissa Breisacher (UCSD-WTN) 6-1, 6-0
2.
Micah Hermsdorf (ACUW) def. Melinda Chu (UCSD-WTN) 6-0, 6-0
3.
Laura Mongin (ACUW) def. Tara Vanooteghem (UCSD-WTN) 6-1, 6-3
4.
Brittney Reed (ACUW) def. Katie Mulloy (UCSD-WTN) 6-3, 6-0
5.
Emily Conrad (ACUW) def. Samantha Yeung (UCSD-WTN) 6-2, 6-3
6.
Hannah Kelley (ACUW) def. Krystal Mizuguchi (UCSD-WTN) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles competition
1.
Micah Hermsdorf/
Hannah Kelley (ACUW) def. Melissa Breisacher/Jacquelyn Davis (UCSD-WTN) 8-4
2.
Laura Mongin/
Brittney Reed (ACUW) def. Melinda Chu/Tara Vanooteghem (UCSD-WTN) 8-0
3. Katie Mulloy/Laura Wilke (UCSD-WTN) def.
Emily Conrad/
Madelyn Walker (ACUW) 8-4
Match Notes
Abilene Christian 21-3; National ranking #6
UC San Diego 6-13; National ranking #21; Regional ranking #5
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,3,2,1,4,5)
#16 Abilene Christian 6, #19 UC San Diego 3
Apr 15, 2012 at Malibu, CA (Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1.
Hans Hach (ACUM) def. Chapman Chan (UCSD-MTN) 6-4, 6-2
2. Max Jiganti (UCSD-MTN) def.
Nick Plum (ACUM) 6-1, 1-6, 6-4
3. Borja Cortes (ACUM) def. Junya Yoshida (UCSD-MTN) 6-4, 6-4
4.
Alfredo Desiati (ACUM) def. Sam Ling (UCSD-MTN) 6-3, 6-0
5.
Guilherme Gesser (ACUM) def. Kona Luu (UCSD-MTN) 4-6, 6-2, 7-5
6. Devon Sousa (UCSD-MTN) def.
Michael Morris (ACUM) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
Doubles competition
1.
Hans Hach/
Nick Plum (ACUM) def. Devon Sousa/Austin West (UCSD-MTN) 8-5
2. Borja Cortes/
Alfredo Desiati (ACUM) def. Kona Luu/Jason Wall (UCSD-MTN) 8-4
3. Max Jiganti/Sam Ling (UCSD-MTN) def.
Guilherme Gesser/
Michael Morris (ACUM) 8-5
Match Notes
Abilene Christian 17-8; National ranking #16
UC San Diego 12-10; National ranking #19; Regional ranking #3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,1,2,3,6,5)
