ABILENE -- The ACU Wildcats bounced back from their disappointing loss to Northwest Missouri State on Wednesday to record a pair of wins on Friday, including a stirring comeback win over East Central University in a Lone Star Conference men's tennis match at the Eager Tennis Center.
The Wildcats blanked the University of the Southwest, 6-0, before rallying from a 4-0 deficit to beat the Tigers, 5-4. The two wins push the Wildcats to 10-6 on the season as they prepare to take on Prairie View A&M and Baylor on Saturday in Waco. The Bears -- who won the 2004 NCAA Division I national championship -- are currently ranked eighth nationally.
After easily handling the Mustangs of USW, the Wildcats quickly found themselves trailing an inspired East Central team. And after a disheartening 5-1 loss to NW Missouri at home on Wednesday, the Wildcats had no momentum as they went to singles play trailing 3-0.
The Tigers quickly took a 4-0 lead as Mitch Sholty knocked out
Jared Hope, 6-4, 6-4, at No. 6 singles.
But ACU slowly began chipping away at the lead as
Eldad Campbell and
John Strahl each won split-sets matches at Nos. 1 and 3, respectively, to give the Wildcats two wins.
Luke Hawk and
Bryan Joiner won in straight sets at Nos. 2 and 4, respectively, to make it a 4-4 match.
That left it up to senior
Brett Proctor to pull out the win for the Wildcats. He dropped the first set to Dai Edwardes-Evans, 6-4, but quickly rallied in the second set, winning 7-5 to tie the match at 1-1. Proctor then rolled to a 6-1 win in the third set to take the match and give ACU the team win.
"That was a great win for our guys," ACU head coach
Hutton Jones said. "We were down and really had nothing going, and then we were able to rally and get it done. I was really proud of the way they hung in there and kept fighting and got it turned in our favor."
ACU 6, University of the Southwest 0
Singles
1.
Eldad Campbell, ACU, def. Teddy Yelley, USW, 6-1, 6-1
2.
John Strahl, ACU, def. Jorge Soto, USW, 6-0, 6-0
6.
Cody McCarty, ACU, def. Ruben Dhillon, USW, 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
1.
Bryan Joiner-
Luke Hawk, ACU, def. Teddy Yelley-Ruben Dhillon, USW, 8-2
2.
John Strahl-
Eldad Campbell, ACU, def. Randy Baker-Richard Southern, USW, 8-1
3.
Jared Hope-
Brett Proctor, ACU, def. Adam Faul-Jorge Soto, USW, 8-3
ACU 5, East Central 4
Singles
1.
Eldad Campbell, ACU, def. Andres Nunez, ECU, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
2.
Luke Hawk, ACU, def. Stefan Stein, ECU, 6-3, 6-3
3.
John Strahl, ACU, def. Samuel Moore, ECU, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
4.
Bryan Joiner, ACU, def. Dai Edwardes-Evans, ECU, 6-2, 6-2
5.
Brett Proctor, ACU, def. Carlos Muro, ECU, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1
6. Mitch Sholty, ECU, def.
Jared Hope, ACU, 6-4, 6-4
Doubles
1. Andres Nunez-Dai Edwardes-Evans, ECU, def.
Luke Hawk-
Bryan Joiner, ACU, 9-7
2. Stefan Stein-Samuel Moore, ECU, def.
Eldad Campbell-
John Strahl, ACU, 8-4
3. Mitch Sholty-Carlos Muro, ECU, def.
Jared Hope-
Brett Proctor, ACU, 8-5
