ABILENE – Abilene Christian's nationally ranked men's and women's teams will welcome their Lone Star Conference rivals from Cameron to the Eager Tennis Pavilion this Thursday for a pair of 1 p.m. duals.
There is no charge for admission and free hot dogs and Dr. Pepper will be served to all in attendance.
Cameron was originally scheduled to face the Wildcats on Wednesday, but a 60 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms forced the coaching staffs to push the match back to Thursday.
The fifth-ranked ACU women (18-5, 4-0 LSC) last played on March 27 at Tarleton State, where they recorded an 8-1 win over the TexAnns that stretched their winning streak to six. During this stretch, the Wildcats' singles players have won over 77 percent of their matches, while the doubles teams are a combined 12-2 led by the nationally ranked tandems of Julia Mongin and Brittney Reed, and Micah Hermsdorf and Hannah Kelley.
Mongin and Reed have won their last five matches together and are 9-1 over their last 10, but the team's longest winning streak belongs to the No. 3 duo of Laura Mongin and Kaysie Hermsdorf, which remains undefeated at 8-0.
The No. 18 Aggies (13-3, 1-2 LSC) are the second-highest ranked team in the conference (and No. 3 in the South Central Region) even though two of their three losses have come against LSC teams from Midwestern State (L, 4-5) and Tarleton State (L, 4-5).
Cameron is led at the top by No. 47 Amanda Moberg, who is off to a 13-3 start at No. 1, and Julia Puckhaber, who has only lost once in 16 times playing at No. 2 singles. Puckhaber's win Monday vs. her Kingsville opponent was her 10th straight.
ACU won both its matches vs. Cameron last season. The Wildcats first beat the Aggies in Lawton, 8-1, and then defeated them again, 5-0, for the LSC Championship.
On the men's side, Cameron (14-2) has close to perfect this year with their lone defeats coming vs. NCAA-DI schools Texas-Arlington (6-1) and #13 Grand Canyon (6-3). 20th-ranked singles player Nicolai Ferrigno – who lost to ACU's Hans Hach in a tightly contested regional championship match last fall – leads the Aggies with a remarkable 16-0 record.
The No. 16 (12-11) Wildcats, meanwhile, haven't played since March 24 when they swept a doubleheader from St. Mary's (W, 5-2) and Texas-San Antonio (4-3). The two wins provided a huge lift to ACU as they snapped a season-worst five-game losing streak that included defeats to Texas, Midwestern State and the defending national champions from Armstrong Atlantic.
Hach, who is ranked sixth nationally in singles and 12th in doubles with Guilherme Gesser, leads the Wildcats with 13 singles victories and has won 14 times in doubles with five different partners.
ACU also has received strong play as of late from its freshmen Marco Bensley and Nicklas Wingord. Bensley has won his last three in improving to 8-5, while Wingord has won three of his last four, including a three-set win at No. 2 vs. Midwestern State's Kyle Davidson.
The Wildcats played Cameron close twice last season, but won both matches by scores of 5-4 and 5-2.
