Women's Tennis | 3/11/2016 5:08:00 PM
ABILENE – Big Country skies are expected to clear in time for Abilene Christian's 1 p.m. Southland Conference women's tennis match Saturday vs. Stephen F. Austin, however, the rest of Wildcats' weekend schedule is currently unknown as a storm front drenching the south is wrecking havoc with team travel plans.
The Wildcats are to play host to Northwestern State Sunday at noon, but the Lady Demons are being affected by floodwaters impacting their hometown of Natchitoches and the city of Shreveport, as parts of east and westbound I20 have been closed. ACU will know more later tonight or tomorrow about Northwestern State's itinerary but rain is expected to continue falling until Saturday night.
ACU's men's team also was to leave today for the start of a Spring Break trip starting at Southern Miss, but will likely leave Saturday in order to play Sunday against both the Golden Eagles and Jackson State Tigers.
Louisiana's weather forecast looks to be very accommodating for both Wildcat teams after Saturday night as their Spring Break schedules features several conference matches vs. Nicholls (March 16), Southeastern Louisiana (March 17) and New Orleans (March 18).
ACU's women's tennis enters is Southland Conference opener at 10-4 following last Friday's doubleheader sweep of Temple (W, 5-2) and McMurry (7-0).
The Wildcats held on at No. 3 doubles to win the first point vs. Temple and in singles were forced to three sets at the No. 1 and 3 positions. Former Southland Conference Player of the Week and sophomore
Lucile Pothier rallied from a set down to beat Monet Stuckey-Willis, 2-6, 6-0, 6-2, and at No. 1, junior
Erin Walker claimed the match-clinching point over Alina Abdurakhimova, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
Sophomore
Whitney Williams also scored a singles' win against Temple, beating Minami Okajima at the No. 5 position, 6-3, 6-4.
ACU split its first two doubles matches vs. the Owls. The No. 1 ACU team of Williams and Walker doubled up Anais Nussaume and Stuckey-Willis, 6-3, but then Pothier and senior
Kaysie Hermsdorf fell 6-4 to Dina Karina and Alina Abdurakhimova.
At No. 3 doubles, ACU's Marjanovic and sophomore
Andrea Crook lost an early lead but recovered in time to beat Okajima and Yana Khon, 7-6. Crook and Marjanovic have won their last four matches together in improving to 8-2.
Pothier has won her last four singles matches dating back to Jan. 30 and is now second on the team with 10 wins behind 13-2 Marjanovic.
Kaysie Hermsdorf and Pothier lead the Wildcats in doubles with 11 victories.
The Ladyjacks are 7-5 overall and 1-1 vs. the Southland this spring as they followed a 5-2 loss at Central Arkansas with a 5-2 win over Incarnate Word. SFA also is 2-0 all-time vs. ACU since the Wildcats joined the Southland Conference with both matches decided by one point.
The Wildcats additionally have struggled to beat the Lady Demons in the past two years, falling 5-2 last season and 4-3 during the spring of 2014.
NSU is 5-8 overall and lost its lone conference match 5-2 earlier this week vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Lady Demons and Islanders tied for first place in the Southland in 2014 with matching 11-1 records, and last season the regular-season title was shared between SFA and Nicholls at 10-1.
