ABILENE - Winners of five straight, the third-ranked Abilene Christian women's tennis team begins its first road trip since the start of the season Sunday with a match at Butler followed by a doubleheader vs. Northern Kentucky and the 63rd-ranked Kentucky Wildcats.
ACU meets the Bulldogs in Indianapolis for a 10 a.m. dual before heading south to the Bluegrass State. There, the Wildcats will first play the Norse of Northern Kentucky at 11 a.m. prior to facing Kentucky at 6 p.m.
All three of this week's opponents are NCAA D-I schools based in the ITA's Ohio Valley Region, but only Kentucky has received a national ranking. The Wildcats (6-2) are led by their top-line player and 67th-ranked Nadia Ravita and No. 11 regionally ranked competitor Caitlin McGraw.
Kentucky, which will first play Eastern Kentucky before welcoming ACU onto its courts, comes into this weekend on a three-match winning streak with victories posted over Ohio State, Indiana and Miami University.
Northern Kentucky is a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference and in its first-year of D-I competition. The Norse have so far lost each of their matches vs. Wright State and Western Kentucky.
The Bulldogs of the Atlantic-10 Conference have already played most of their schedule and begin the weekend with a 3-9 record. Their wins have come against Dayton, Morehead State and Evansville.
The ACU Wildcats have been on a absolute tear the last couple of weeks since losing their first and only match of the season on Feb. 1 at D-I Northwestern State, 6-1.
ACU followed that loss with a 6-1 win at Sam Houston State before coming home to beat Oklahoma Christian, Trinity, Hardin-Simmons and Western New Mexico by a combined score of 33-1.
Five Wildcats single players are 4-0, while their No. 1 competitor and nationally fifth-ranked senior
Julia Mongin is 2-2. Sophomore and regionally ranked
Brittney Reed, meanwhile, leads her squad with five wins in six matches.
Overall, nine Wildcats have combined for a 34-7 singles record (.829) and have been close to perfect in doubles by winning 18 of 20 contests (.900).
ACU's doubles teams are currently 6-1 at the No. 1 and 2 positions and 6-0 at No. 3. The Wildcats' nationally ranked pairing of Reed and Mongin is 3-1 at No. 1, while last year's all-America duo of
Hannah Kelley and
Micah Hermsdorf is off to a 2-1 start.
