ABILENE – An on-court combination of poise and professionalism not only earned ACU junior
Hans Hach a spot in the Division II finals of the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships, but also the honor of being a recipient of the James O'Hara Sargent Sportsmanship Award.
The award, which is presented by Rolex Watch, USA, goes to players who display outstanding sportsmanship and exemplify the spirit of college tennis. It is given in memory of former ITA All-American and Rolex Watch media manager Jim Sargent.
“Winning the sportsmanship award means a lot to me,” Hach told
ITATennis.com. “I wasn't expecting it, but it's a great award to win.”
“He's a class guy,” added ACU assistant coach
John Walker. “The way he handled himself on the court is something we are proud of. He represented ACU extremely well, it's a huge award.”
A three-time regional champion, Hach has gradually improved his championship standing since placing fifth in his 2010 debut. Hach placed third last year, and then this past weekend in Mobile, Ala., he staved off challenges from Azusa Pacific's Joechem Hoefnagles and Lynn's Willi Wolfer in qualifying for his first shot at a national title.
In the finals, Hach encountered the nation's No. 1 singles player, Armstrong Atlantic's Georgi Rumenov, who proved worthy of his ranking with a 6-2, 6-2 victory. Rumenov went on to lose the championships' Super Bowl title to Tyler Junior College's Adrien Berkowicz, 6-4, 6-2, but was dominant through the first two rounds of the D-II bracket, beating opponents from Bluefield State, 6-2, 6-3, and Concordia, 6-2, 6-1.
“We walked away from the loss a little disappointed, but that guy (Rumenov) is No. 1 in the nation for a reason and he played like it,” said ACU head coach
Hutton Jones. “He showed no dents in the armor, but overall I thought Hans competed very well this weekend against some good opposition and should be proud of what he accomplished. If he's not the No. 2 player come spring, then I expect he'll be close.”
Hach's weekend also included a third-place finish in doubles with sophomore teammate Borja Cortés. The duo began its run with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Sergio De Vilchez and Luis Altimires of Northwest Missouri State, but then lost in the semifinals, 6-4, 7-6 (6), to the Barry University team of Marco Mokrzycki and Fabian Groetsch.
The defeat for Hach and Cortés was their first together since losing the finals of the Midland Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational to top-seeded Wichita State's Matheus Pereira and Alvaro Gutierrez, 8-6.
Hach and Cortés, however, rebounded effectively from only their second defeat of the fall season by doubling-up Concordia's Daniel Piludu and Andrey Boldarev, 6-3, 6-3, in the third-place match. Hach also placed third in doubles at the 20101 championships with Brian Joiner.
On the women's side, senior
Julia Mongin placed fourth in singles and doubles with sophomore
Brittney Reed, who was making her championships' debut.
Mongin and Reed outlasted their first-round opponents Fanni Varga and Mehak Singh of Southwest Baptist in three sets, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 10-2, but couldn't overcome the nation's No. 1 team of Annie Hwang and Sherry Liu of BYU-Hawai'i in the semifinals, falling 6-2, 6-2. That loss dropped them into the third-place match, where the were trumped in three sets by the Lynn tandem of Ioana Ivan and Valentian Confalonieri, 6-2, 3-6, 10-5.
Mongin and Reed are the second different Wildcats to make the National Small College Championships doubles bracket in as many years, and give the program tremendous depth alongside the all-America duo of senior
Hannah Kelley and junior
Micah Hermsdorf, and this fall's upstart duo of
Laura Mongin and
Kaysie Hermsdorf. All three of these pairing made the regional quarterfinals, with
Julia Mongin ultimately having to defeat her twin sister in the semifinals, 6-3, 6-3.
Jones is pleased to see all three of his doubles tandems performing at such a high level, and considers his decision of whom to place at the No. 1 position as, 'a good problem to have.'
“I really like what we have going into spring with two potential No. 1 teams and we'll constantly look at things from week to week,” he said. “Not only are we going to be tough to deal with in doubles, but I feel we're just going to be so much better as a team. It's nice to have all this national experience on the roster.”
In singles play, Mongin ousted Drury's Natalia Kozel in the first-round, 6-2, 6-2, but was edged by third-seeded Barbora Krtickova of Armstrong Atlantic, 6-4, 7-6 (1) in the semifinals. Florida Tech's Kristina Huba then upset Mongin in the third-place match, 6-3, 6-1.
“Julia has come through for us many times this fall, including in the regional semifinals, but the girl from Florida Tech played well and was able to pull off the upset,” said Jones. “But this one loss shouldn't take away from is a very strong body of work.”
ACU's 2013 spring schedule will be released late November.
