LOUISVILLE - Abilene Christian's sixth-ranked women's tennis team defeated Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 5-0, in a NCAA Championship Round of 16 match played Wednesday morning at the Top Gun Tennis Academy.
The victory served as ACU's 15th shutout of 2012 and improved their season record to 24-3, which includes an 11-0 mark against nationally ranked teams from Division II.
The 35th-ranked Crimson Hawks, meanwhile, end their year at 22-7.
ACU's next match in the NCAA Quarterfinals is scheduled for Thursday at 8 a.m. (CT) against No. 3 Lynn University, which beat Queens (NY) College Knights, 5-0, earlier today.
Lynn eliminated the Wildcats from last year's national tournament, but ACU got the best of the Fighting Knights during two high-profile matches played last fall at the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships. ACU's
Julia Mongin beat Ioana Ivan, 6-4, 6-4 in a third-place singles match, while the doubles team of
Micah Hermsdorf and
Hannah Kelley topped Ivan and Sabine Krause, 1-6, 6-3, 10-4.
Winners of five straight, Hermsdorf and Kelley today improved to 17-3 on the season and gave ACU a 3-0 lead heading into singles following their 8-6 win at the top line over Katie Eaton and Tabtip Louhabanjong. Kelley later clinched the match at No. 5 singles after making quick work of Emilia Osborne, 6-2, 6-1.
Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year
Brittney Reed was the first to finish after beating Eaton at No. 3 singles, 6-0, 6-1. Reed leads the Wildcats with 23 victories.
The twin-sister tandem of Julia and
Laura Mongin earned ACU its first point with an 8-3 triumph at the No. 2 spot over the 21st-ranked duo of Osborne and Tanya Timko. Reed and
Madelyn Walker then pushed the lead to 2-0 with an 8-3 victory against Ranvita Mahto and Erika Schnaas at No. 3.
All six Wildcats' singles players won their first set, and five of six were leading in the second set when the match was stopped.
