ABILENE - Abilene Christian's 11th-ranked men's tennis team begins its week playing host to Texas-Permian Basin Wednesday before taking off on a weekend road trip to No. 26 Baylor and No. 15 St. Edward's.
The Wildcats (5-4) are scheduled to face the Falcons (4-3) tomorrow at 4 p.m. on the outdoor courts of the Eager Tennis Pavilion, but there's a chance that the wind - predicted to reach speeds of 22mph - will force them into the Teague Center. ACU was to have also played University of the Southwest Wednesday at 11 a.m., but that match was canceled by the coaches earlier today.
ACU last played on Feb. 16, when it recorded a doubleheader sweep of Hardin-Simmons and Western New Mexico. The Wildcats won both home matches by a combined score of 17-1, but more importantly, they brought back several players who were injured earlier this month during a 2-3 trip to Kentucky and Tennessee.
Sophomore Borja Cortes got in four matches that afternoon with a sore wrist and went 3-1, while senior and nationally ranked
Alfredo Desiati began his road back to recovery with a straight-set win at No. 6 vs. Western New Mexico's Jorge Carretero. Sophomore
Guilherme Gesser also fought through a nagging injury to win twice vs. the 30th-ranked Mustangs.
Just as impressive in that win, were the contributions of newcomers
Nicklas Wingord and
Jason Proctor. Wingord won his match at No. 2 singles vs. Juan Pablo Fuentes, and earlier combined with
Kyle Plum to beat the Mustangs' No. 3 doubles team, 9-8. Proctor was a winner with Gesser at No. 2 doubles and later at No. 5 singles.
No. 26 Baylor has the honor of being the first big NCAA D-I school on ACU's schedule, a slate that also features the Rice Owls on March 9 and 15th-ranked Texas Longhorns on March 23. ACU's dual with UT is expected to be televised on The Longhorn Network.
The Bears begin their week with a 7-1 record and are coming off a tremendous 4-3 upset victory over 16th-ranked Florida in Gainesville. Baylor won the doubles point in addition to its matches at No. 1, 2 and 4 singles by No. 122 Patrick Pradella, No. 43 Julian Lenz and No. 78 Mate Zsiga, respectively.
Baylor defeated ACU during their last meeting during the spring of 2010; however, only two of the players that competed that afternoon are still with the Bears - seniors Roberto Maytin and Chris Gordon. Maytin is 2-2 this spring between the No. 4-6 positions, while Gordon has yet to play.
After battling the Bears, the Wildcats head south to Austin for a Sunday afternoon match with South Central Regional rival St. Edwards (3-2). The Hilltoppers - winners of three straight - are the third-ranked team in the region behind Oklahoma Christian and ACU.
St. Edward's upset the Wildcats in Abilene last spring, 5-4, after winning the last three matches at No. 4, 5 and 6. The Hilltoppers also won two of three doubles contests.
James Rogers, who was St. Edward's No. 6 singles player that afternoon, is currently his team's highest regionally ranked singles player at No. 11. He and teammate Maximo Agoglia also comprise the region's No. 7 doubles pairing.
ACU senior
Hans Hach - the No. 2 player in NCAA Division II - continues to lead his team in singles and doubles, where he is 8-1 in both categories. The all-America has won his last seven singles matches and is 5-0 at No. 1 doubles with Cortes.
Overall, ACU singles players are a combined 31-23 (.574) this spring, while its doubles teams are 18-9 (.667).
