ABILENE - The third-ranked Abilene Christian women's tennis team couldn't hold onto to its halftime doubles lead as the 53rd ranked Wildcats of Kentucky rallied in singles to win its home match at the Boone Tennis Complex, 5-2, Tuesday night.
The loss snapped a season-best seven-match winning streak for ACU, which had won its first two matches on this week's trip by matching 7-0 scores.
Kentucky, meanwhile, improved to 9-2 after winning three matches today vs. Eastern Kentucky, Northern Kentucky and ACU.
"We didn't quite get it done, but we put the sweat on them and had them scared a bit after we won the doubles point," said head coach
Hutton Jones. "But they're a professional bunch and they exposed what we need to work on in singles even though we had our chances. Overall, it was very exciting to see Wildcats vs. Wildcats and it was totally worth it to come up here and play a tough SEC school. I feel like we'll be playing with more confidence from here on out."
In doubles, ACU's fifth-ranked duo of
Brittney Reed and
Julia Mongin improved to 5-1 on the year after beating Caitlin McGraw and Nadia Ravita at the No. 1 position, 8-3. The Wildcats' No. 3 team of
Kaysie Hermsdorf and
Laura Mongin then clinched the doubles point after holding back Stephanie Fox and Jessica Stiles, 9-7, to remain undefeated at 5-0.
ACU's all-America and 14th-ranked tandem of
Micah Hermsdorf and
Hannah Kelley was leading its match at No. 2, 6-5, when it was abandoned.
"I'm very excited about what we have in doubles," said Jones, "because if today was a Division-II competition then we'd be going into singles up 3-0 rather than 1-0. It was a lot of fun seeing us with the lead on every court."
There were some close matches between UK and ACU in singles, but the home team prevailed at each position with the exception of No. 4, where senior
Laura Mongin outlasted Kirsten Lewis 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 for her second win of the afternoon and team-best seventh of the season.
Reed nearly won her first set vs. McGraw at the No. 3 position, but lost the tiebreaker, 7-5, as well as the following set, 6-1.
ACU enjoyed a 7-0 win earlier today in Lexington vs. Northern Kentucky (0-3), which is in its first year as a D-I member of the Atlantic Sun Conference. All the Wildcats' singles players won in straight sets, while the two doubles teams won by scores of 8-0 and 8-4. The victory was ACU's fifth-straight shutout and sixth of the season.
At the top three positions,
Emily Conrad,
Jamie Lee Denton and
Kaysie Hermsdorf all won to improve their season records to 5-0.
The Wildcats return to action Wednesday, March 6 for a home doubleheader vs. the University of the Southwest (9 a.m.) and No. 5 Barry (1 p.m.).
#
#3 Abilene Christian 7, Northern Kentucky 0
02/26/2013 at Lexington, Ky.
Singles competition
1.
Emily Conrad (ACUW) def. Claire Spradlin (NKU) 6-3, 6-1
2.
Jamie Lee Denton (ACUW) def. Marta Romeo (NKU) 6-4, 6-2
3.
Kaysie Hermsdorf (ACUW) def. Holly Robinson (NKU) 6-0, 6-2
4.
Laura Mongin (ACUW) def. Kristina Abramovich (NKU) 6-0, 6-0
5.
Nada Marjanovic (ACUW) def. Jamie Diaz (NKU) 6-1, 6-1
6.
Hannah Kelley (ACUW) def. No player (NKU), by default
Doubles competition
1. #14
Micah Hermsdorf/
Hannah Kelley (ACUW) def. Marta Romeo/Claire Spradlin (NKU) 8-0
2.
Emily Conrad/
Jamie Lee Denton (ACUW) def. Holly Robinson/Kristina Abramovich (NKU) 8-4
3.
Nada Marjanovic/
Laura Mongin (ACUW) def. No player/No player (NKU), by default
Match Notes
Abilene Christian 8-1; National ranking #3; Regional ranking #1
Northern Kentucky 0-3
A-100
No. 53 Kentucky 5, Abilene Christian 2
02/26/2013 at Lexington, Ky.
Doubles
1. #5
Brittney Reed/
Julia Mongin (ACU) def. Caitlin McGraw/Nadia Ravita (UK) 8-3
2. Khristina Blajkevitch/CeCe Witten (UK) vs. #14
Micah Hermsdorf/Hannah Kelly 5-6 (abd.)
3.
Kaysie Hermsdorf/
Laura Mongin (ACU) def. Stephanie Fox/Jessica Stiles (UK) 9-7
Singles
1. #51 Nadia Ravita (UK) def. #5
Julia Mongin (ACU) 6-2, 6-2
2. Jessica Stiles (UK) def. #32
Micah Hermsdorf (ACU) 6-0, 6-0
3. Caitlin McGraw (UK) def.
Brittney Reed (ACU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
4.
Laura Mongin (ACU) def. Kirsten Lewis (UK) 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
5. Stephanie Fox (UK) vs.
Nada Marjanovic (ACU) 6-2, 6-3
6. CeCe Witten (UK) vs. Hannah Kelly (ACU) 6-3, 6-4
