Wednesday, May 8
Surprise, AZ
6 p.m.
Abilene Christian
vs
Columbus State University
Photo by: Jeremy Enlow
No. 5 Wildcats to face No. 6 Columbus State in NCAA Championships Round of 16
5/7/2013 10:58:00 AM | Women's Tennis
NCAA Championship Bracket
ABILENE – Abilene Christian's fifth-ranked women's tennis team is at the Surprise (Ariz.) Tennis and Racquet Complex this week for the start of the NCAA Championships, where its first match will take place Wednesday at 6 p.m. (CT) vs. sixth-ranked Columbus (Ga.) State of the Peach Belt Conference.
Updates from their round of 16 dual can be found here.
The Wildcats have done well during their last two trips to nationals, reaching the quarterfinals in 2011 and semifinals in 2012, but they'll have to open this tournament against a Cougar team that's lost just three times all year and claim the top-ranked ITA singles player in Paola Cigui. Two of those three defeats came against conference rival Armstrong Atlantic and the other vs. BYU-Hawai'i, which eliminated both the Cougars and Wildcats from last year's postseason.
Cigui, a junior, is 22-0 this spring at the No. 1 position, which includes consecutive victories over former No. 1 Annie Hwang of BYU-Hawai'i and Armstrong Atlantic's Aleksndra Filipovski. Cigui and seventh-ranked singles player Caroline Weikard also comprise the nation's No. 3 doubles team, which is 22-2.
Weikard's singles record is 21-1, while 46th-ranked Olivera Jokic is 17-3. Jokic was part of a Columbus State team that lost 6-3 to the Wildcats during their most recent meeting in April of 2011.
ACU (27-5) rolls into nationals on a red-hot 14-match winning streak that began all the way back on March 20 following a spring break defeat to then-No. 1 Armstrong in Las Vegas. The Wildcats scored a momentous 5-4 victory at then-No. 9 West Florida during this stretch without the services of their top-ranked player Julia Mongin and later won their 25th Lone Star Conference Championship as the senior all-America continued to recover from injury.
Mongin, who is currently ranked 15th nationally behind a 13-5 record, returned to the lineup for the first time since April 4 during ACU's regional match vs. Tarleton State. There she teamed with Brittney Reed to beat the 25th-ranked TexAnn duo of Alicia Perez and Karla Martinez. Mongin also was up a set on No. 49 Perez in singles when ACU freshman Kaysie Hermsdorf clinched the match at No. 6 singles.
The younger sister of junior all-America Micah Hermsdorf, Kaysie leads the Wildcats with 20 victories and is part of a nine-woman roster that's posted a combined singles record of 130-45 (.743). In fact, all of ACU's players have won at least 11 matches.
Julia Mongin's twin sister, Laura, is second on the team with 18 wins and owns the team's longest winning streak among its everyday players with seven. Over her five last completed matches, Laura Mongin has won nine of those 10 sets by a score of either 6-1 or 6-0.
The Wildcats have equally been dominant in doubles where they are a combined 78-11 (.876). The sixth-ranked tandem of Reed and Julia Mongin has won its last seven matches in improving to 12-2, while last year's all-Americas and 15th-ranked pairing of Hannah Kelley and Micah Hermsdorf is 17-3 and winners of 12 straight.
ACU hasn't been swept in doubles all season, and has won at least two of three doubles contests vs. the likes of Kentucky, No. 5 Hawai'i Pacific, No. 28 Fresno Pacific, Auburn Montgomery and West Florida. Armstrong was the last team to take two of three from the Wildcats, but even on that day the pairing of Laura and Julia Mongin doubled up top-ranked Barbora Krtickova and Aleksndra Filipovski, 8-4.
The winner between ACU and Columbus State will advance to national quarterfinals against either No. 13 West Florida or No. 30 Drury. That match is scheduled for May 9 at 2 p.m. CT.
Columbus State reached the NCAA round of 16 following consecutive 5-0 Southeast Regional tournament wins over No. 48 Wingate and No. 11 Francis Marion.
ACU received a first-round bye before eliminating Tarleton State to win the South Central Region 1 bracket, while Midwestern State won the second part of the bracket over St. Mary's. The Mustangs' reward is a match vs. the No. 1 Buccaneers of Barry University, which won the 2011 national title.
The Wildcats lost to Barry, 6-3, at home earlier this season, receiving wins from Micah Hermsdorf, Laura Mongin, and the No. 3 doubles team of Mongin and Kaysie Hermsdorf.
ABILENE – Abilene Christian's fifth-ranked women's tennis team is at the Surprise (Ariz.) Tennis and Racquet Complex this week for the start of the NCAA Championships, where its first match will take place Wednesday at 6 p.m. (CT) vs. sixth-ranked Columbus (Ga.) State of the Peach Belt Conference.
Updates from their round of 16 dual can be found here.
The Wildcats have done well during their last two trips to nationals, reaching the quarterfinals in 2011 and semifinals in 2012, but they'll have to open this tournament against a Cougar team that's lost just three times all year and claim the top-ranked ITA singles player in Paola Cigui. Two of those three defeats came against conference rival Armstrong Atlantic and the other vs. BYU-Hawai'i, which eliminated both the Cougars and Wildcats from last year's postseason.
Cigui, a junior, is 22-0 this spring at the No. 1 position, which includes consecutive victories over former No. 1 Annie Hwang of BYU-Hawai'i and Armstrong Atlantic's Aleksndra Filipovski. Cigui and seventh-ranked singles player Caroline Weikard also comprise the nation's No. 3 doubles team, which is 22-2.
Weikard's singles record is 21-1, while 46th-ranked Olivera Jokic is 17-3. Jokic was part of a Columbus State team that lost 6-3 to the Wildcats during their most recent meeting in April of 2011.
ACU (27-5) rolls into nationals on a red-hot 14-match winning streak that began all the way back on March 20 following a spring break defeat to then-No. 1 Armstrong in Las Vegas. The Wildcats scored a momentous 5-4 victory at then-No. 9 West Florida during this stretch without the services of their top-ranked player Julia Mongin and later won their 25th Lone Star Conference Championship as the senior all-America continued to recover from injury.
Mongin, who is currently ranked 15th nationally behind a 13-5 record, returned to the lineup for the first time since April 4 during ACU's regional match vs. Tarleton State. There she teamed with Brittney Reed to beat the 25th-ranked TexAnn duo of Alicia Perez and Karla Martinez. Mongin also was up a set on No. 49 Perez in singles when ACU freshman Kaysie Hermsdorf clinched the match at No. 6 singles.
The younger sister of junior all-America Micah Hermsdorf, Kaysie leads the Wildcats with 20 victories and is part of a nine-woman roster that's posted a combined singles record of 130-45 (.743). In fact, all of ACU's players have won at least 11 matches.
Julia Mongin's twin sister, Laura, is second on the team with 18 wins and owns the team's longest winning streak among its everyday players with seven. Over her five last completed matches, Laura Mongin has won nine of those 10 sets by a score of either 6-1 or 6-0.
The Wildcats have equally been dominant in doubles where they are a combined 78-11 (.876). The sixth-ranked tandem of Reed and Julia Mongin has won its last seven matches in improving to 12-2, while last year's all-Americas and 15th-ranked pairing of Hannah Kelley and Micah Hermsdorf is 17-3 and winners of 12 straight.
ACU hasn't been swept in doubles all season, and has won at least two of three doubles contests vs. the likes of Kentucky, No. 5 Hawai'i Pacific, No. 28 Fresno Pacific, Auburn Montgomery and West Florida. Armstrong was the last team to take two of three from the Wildcats, but even on that day the pairing of Laura and Julia Mongin doubled up top-ranked Barbora Krtickova and Aleksndra Filipovski, 8-4.
The winner between ACU and Columbus State will advance to national quarterfinals against either No. 13 West Florida or No. 30 Drury. That match is scheduled for May 9 at 2 p.m. CT.
Columbus State reached the NCAA round of 16 following consecutive 5-0 Southeast Regional tournament wins over No. 48 Wingate and No. 11 Francis Marion.
ACU received a first-round bye before eliminating Tarleton State to win the South Central Region 1 bracket, while Midwestern State won the second part of the bracket over St. Mary's. The Mustangs' reward is a match vs. the No. 1 Buccaneers of Barry University, which won the 2011 national title.
The Wildcats lost to Barry, 6-3, at home earlier this season, receiving wins from Micah Hermsdorf, Laura Mongin, and the No. 3 doubles team of Mongin and Kaysie Hermsdorf.
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