Wildcats open at Arkansas
ACU to play in Razorback Invitational
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- The ACU women's tennis team will begin what head coach Hutton Jones believes could be a watershed season this weekend when it plays in the Razorback Invitational.
The Wildcats, who won the Lone Star Conference and Central region championships last year on their way to a seventh straight NCAA Division II quarterfinal appearance, finished the season ranked No. 7 in the nation in the season-ending Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings.
ACU will this weekend play against a tournament field full of Division I foes, which includes the hosts from the University of Arkansas.
The women return most of their top players from last year's 24-6 squad, including seniors Lacy Johnson and Kristin Chumley, who went 18-8 as a doubles tandem to earn first team all-America honors.
Also returning is senior Sarah Taweel, who was ranked ninth in the Central region in singles and teamed with departed senior Andi Wildner to form the 11th-ranked doubles tandem in the region.
Also returning for the Wildcats are sophomores Ashley Hawk and Rachel Taylor. Jones added a pair of supremely talented freshmen in Colleen Reynolds of Mansfield -- the first state top-10 player to sign with the Wildcats -- and Lauren Yarbrough of Fort Worth.
"I really feel like we're going to another level this year," Jones said. "Our record might not be as impressive because of the schedule we'll play (which includes 10 NCAA Division I opponents), but I feel like that schedule will make us much better in the long run.
"I could go out and put together a schedule that would guarantee us a 22-0 record going into the conference tournament," Jones said. "But I don't want us to just have a great record. I know at the end of the year, we won't play anybody we'll even flinch at after our early season schedule, which includes this tournament."
