Women's Tennis | 4/12/2016 2:22:00 PM
ABILENE – Abilene Christian tennis seniors Marco Bensley,
Kaysie Hermsdorf,
Nada Marjanovic, Brandon McCarty, Jason Proctor and their Wildcat teammates play host to the final home dual match of the 2016 season Wednesday at 5 p.m. against one of their first and fiercest rivals – the Mustangs of Midwestern State.
Both matches are scheduled to take place simultaneously at the Eager Tennis Pavilion with free hot dogs and Dr. Pepper being served. However, if rain continues to linger the women's dual will be moved onto the indoor courts of the Teague Events Center followed by the men.
The ACU women last faced Midwestern State in 2013, winning 6-3 during the regular season and 5-0 in Lone Star Conference Championship match. That year's Wildcats ranked fifth in the nation and Hermsdorf helped her squad capture their 23rd and final LSC Championship, winning at No. 5 singles and No. 3 doubles. Hermsdorf would go on to be named Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year behind 20 singles victories and 26 wins in doubles.
In the years since, Hermsdorf has twice been named All-Southland Conference in doubles, first with her older sister, Micah, and later with
Brittney Reed. She and Micah went 20-6, and the following season she and Reed posted a 20-3 record (8-1 Southland record at No. 1). This season, she and sophomore
Lucile Pothier have furnished an overall doubles record of 20-7, and are 9-1 vs. the league.
"The talent level from No. 1 to 6 doesn't vary much in our lineup, and Kaysie always has been willing to step up to play the high positions," said head coach
Hutton Jones. "We've needed her up there this year and last. She's a fiery competitor who doesn't get discouraged or get broken down. It's very hard to think of a time where she wasn't in a match to win it."
Marjanovic joined ACU at the semester break of the 2012-13 school year and gave the team much needed depth, winning 10 of 15 singles contests and 8 of 9 doubles matches. She became a full-time starter as a sophomore and enters Wednesday's dual with an impressive 67-17 (.798) singles record and 44-24 (.647) mark in doubles.
Neither Hermsdorf nor Marjanovic have experienced a losing season with the Wildcats, which finished 29-6, 18-6 and 12-6 over the past three seasons with conference showings of first, fourth and fifth. ACU currently is 18-6 and a win over New Orleans Saturday in Houston will earn them second place in the Southland Conference at 9-2.
"Nada's been a total force since the start of her second season and it's been fun to see her keep getting better and better year after year, moving up from No. 5 and 6 to 3 and 4," said Jones. "In some ways she's our version of (women's basketball junior) Alexis Mason. She's out there in an empty gym every day taking her shots, and on our off days, Nada's calling her teammates to go out and hit.
"She's worked so hard here since day one and bought into what we're about as a team and a school – a tremendous competitor."
Bensley and Proctor have been starters since their freshman years of 2012-13 and were both All-Southland Conference honorees as sophomores. Bensley, who has missed most of this spring due to injury, made Second Team Southland Conference in singles after winning five of six league matches and finishing with an overall record of 16-9.
Proctor rebounded from a difficult end to his freshman year to earn Second Team All-Southland Conference recognition in doubles with Nico Agritelley in 2014. He and Agritelley were 6-1 together at the No. 2 position and tied for the best record in the league that year at 3-1.
Proctor continued to play across the top three positions in singles as a junior, picking up five wins at No. 2, and this spring he's continued to impress by going 3-1 vs. league opposition. Additionally, his three-set 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 comeback vs. James Wade of No. 53 UC Davis set the stage for ACU's first DI win over a nationally ranked opponent.
"I'm so proud of Jason and I wish he had three more years here, but we ran out of time," said Jones. "I think that win against the guy from Davis marked the start of his playing with total confidence. It's been neat to see him hold down the No. 2 spot all spring – where it's very hard to win – and have a 3-1 record vs. the Southland."
As Jones thought about Bensley, he recalled two profound off-the-court moments involving the native South African.
"Marco's been dealing with injuries but he never quit on trying to get back in the lineup, which was and still is stacked with talented freshmen and sophomore," said Jones. "But even when he wasn't playing, Marco's spirit and drive still gave us so much success. I remember him being up there in the stands against Oral Roberts firing up the team and cheering them on, and I think his energy had an impact in a 4-3 win.
"It also was a big honor for me to baptize Marco last fall surrounded by the team, faculty and staff. Nothing - and I mean nothing - done on the courts could ever trump that moment. It was more special than anything."
McCarty only has one spring dual match under his belt despite being part of the roster for four years. Jones, however, is quick to point out that McCarty's contributions to the team were as valuable as anyone's.
"To me, Brandon earned his letter by doing the same amount of work as the other guys, fitness and otherwise, for the past four years – and he worked hard at everything he did even though he was never on scholarship as a walk on.
"He's good enough of a player that he could have gone somewhere else, but he chose to be here and served as a great example of a teammate. His attitude always was one of, 'how can I help the team today?' After this year he's off to medical school."
An Abilene native, McCarty has maintained a perfect 4.0 grade-point average majoring in biochemistry. He will graduate this summer with Hermsdorf, Marjanovic and Proctor.
MSU's men's team is ranked 11th among all NCAA D2 schools and has an overall record of 12-5. The Mustangs recently had their six-match winning streak snapped Saturday in an 8-1 loss to No. 18 Northwest Missouri State.
The 20th-ranked MSU women have won their last four in improving to 14-5 and will play at No. 17 Cameron Tuesday before continuing south to Abilene.
