ABILENE – The two best women's tennis teams in the Lone Star Conference and South Central Region will meet Wednesday at 5 p.m. when the 32nd-ranked TexAnns of Tarleton State play host to No. 3 Abilene Christian at the Potishman-Lard Tennis Courts.
The Wildcats (17-5, 3-0 LSC) are in the midst of a five-match winning streak that started with last Wednesday's 6-3 victory at Midwestern State and continued through a 4-0 weekend, during which they defeated UTEP, Texas-Permian Basin, St. Mary's and Texas-San Antonio. ACU's wins over the Falcons and Rattlers pushed their regional record to 5-0.
ACU's singles players have combined for a 22-7 (.759) record during this streak led by seniors
Hannah Kelley and
Julia Mongin, each of who is 4-0. Three of Mongin's wins have come at No. 1, while Kelley has won matches at four positions in improving to 9-3 on the season. Mongin is 11-5 and tied with several teammates for the second-most wins behind
Kaysie Hermsdorf's 12.
Hermsdorf is one of three Wildcats along with Kelley and freshman
Nada Marjanovic who have admirably filled in for senior
Laura Mongin at No. 4 singles as she recovers from an injury.
The Wildcats' doubles teams also were met with success last week as they won 9 of 11 matches. The all-America duo of Kelley and
Micah Hermsdorf as well as the nationally fifth-ranked team of
Julia Mongin and
Brittney Reed each went 3-0.
For the season, ACU's doubles pairings are a combined 49-10 (.831), while its singles competitors are 92-36 (.719).
The TexAnns (8-7, 2-0 LSC) have played sparingly compared to the Wildcats since the start of March, but have won three of their last four matches. Their lone defeat was a 5-2 decision to New Mexico State. Prior to that, however, Tarleton State scored consecutive conference wins over Texas A&M-Kingsville (9-0) and Cameron (5-4).
Alicia Perez, Karla Martinez and Melanie Barnes are all ranked among the region's top-20 singles players, while the duo of Perez and Martinez is ranked fifth regionally in doubles.
ACU has won its last six regular-season meetings vs. Tarleton State by an average score of 8-1.
The Wildcats are scheduled to play in Brownwood, Texas at noon vs. Howard Payne prior to making their trip to Stephenville. The Yellow Jackets have a season record of 2-4.
