Williams' comeback at No. 5 gives Wildcats win over McNeese

Women's Tennis | 3/25/2016 3:05:00 PM

ABILENE - Sophomore Whitney Williams admittedly could not find the court in the first half of her No. 5 singles match against Charoline Erlandsson. But the right combination of confidence and correction helped her climb out of a 6-3, 5-2 hole to stun the McNeese State freshman in three sets 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 and clinch the match for Abilene Christian, 5-2, Friday afternoon at the Eager Tennis Pavilion.

ACU improved to 13-5 overall and 3-1 vs. the Southland Conference following its win over a quality side from McNeese, which fell to 12-6 and 5-2. The Cowgirls always have played the Wildcats close, and earlier this season they only lost to Baylor by one point and dropped a 5-2 decision to SMU, in between hammering teams from Texas State, UL Lafayette and Missouri State.

The last two ACU and McNeese duals were decided by one point with each school winning on its home court, and it appeared that was going to be the case again today.

The Wildcats won their third-consecutive doubles point to begin the match with the red-hot tandem of sophomore Lucile Pothier and senior Kaysie Hermsdorf winning their sixth-straight match together, 6-1, at No. 2 over Erlandsson and junior Julia Kral - an All-Southland Conference selection from a year ago.

Minutes later senior Nada Marjanovic and Andrea Crook were off the court at No. 3 after dispatching  Hannah Brett and Anastasija Trubich, 6-2, while at No. 1, Williams and junior Erin Walker left their match tied at 4-4 against a very talented freshman in Giovanna Fioretti and her partner sophomore Sarah Jurakova.

Perhaps it was fortunate that Williams and Walker didn't get a chance to finish their doubles contest as the match would be decided by their singles' performances. And if Williams hadn't completed her epic comeback, the dual would have rested on the result at No. 1 where Walker was in constant battle-mode with Fioretti, who is off to an 11-5 start and is already a three-time Southland Conference Player of the Week.

Walker and Fioretti split the first two sets at 6-4, and then after trailing 5-3 in the third, Fioretti came all the way back to tie the score at 6-6. But in the tiebreak, Walker proved to be a bit more dominant and scored her first Southland victory of the spring at No. 1, winning 7-2.

Walker's season record is now at 9-9 with eight of those wins coming at the top line.

Also victorious today in singles for the Wildcats today were Pothier and Hermsdorf. Pothier ­­- a winner of eight-straight matches - gave ACU a 2-0 lead following her 6-0, 6-4 win at No. 3 over Jurakova. But McNeese quickly tied the score at 2-2 as sophomore Hannah Brett snapped Marjanovic's seven-match winning streak, 6-4, 6-4, at the No. 4 position, and Trubich held off freshman Jordan Heny at No. 6, 7-5, 6-4.

Hermsdorf scored the go-ahead point following a tremendous 6-4, 7-6 victory over Kral, who entered today's match with an overall record of 41-15. Williams and Walker followed up with their three-set triumphs.

With four singles wins this afternoon, ACU is now 68-52 (.567) on the spring while its doubles record is a solid 46-28 (.622).

The Wildcats return to action Wednesday at 4 p.m. for a dual against Northwestern State. This match was first scheduled for March 13, but heavy rains and flooding in Shreveport prevented the Lady Demons from leaving campus.
 

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Abilene Christian 5, McNeese State 2
Mar 24, 2016 at Abilene, Texas (Eager Tennis Pavilion)

Singles competition
1. Erin Walker (ACU) def. Giovanna Fioretti (MCN) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2)
2. Kaysie Hermsdorf (ACU) def. Julia Kral (MCN) 6-4, 7-6
3. Lucile Pothier (ACU) def. Sarah Jurakova (MCN) 6-0, 6-4
4. Hannah Brett (MCN) def. Nada Marjanovic (ACU) 6-4, 6-4
5. Whitney Williams (ACU) def. Charoline Erlandsson (MCN) 3-6, 7-5, 6-2
6. Anastasija Trubich (MCN) def. Jordan Henry (ACU) 7-5, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Whitney Williams/Erin Walker (ACU) vs. Giovanna Fioretti/Sarah Jurakova (MCN) 4-4, unfinished
2. Kaysie Hermsdorf/Lucile Pothier (ACU) def. Julia Kral/Charoline Erlandsson (MCN) 6-1
3. Nada Marjanovic/Andrea Crook (ACU) def. Hannah Brett/Anastasija Trubich (MCN) 6-2

Match Notes
McNeese State 12-6 (5-2 SLC)
Abilene Christian 13-5 (3-1 SLC)
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (3,4,6,2,5,1)
T-3:30