ARLINGTON – Abilene Christian women's tennis finished its 2017 regular season in a three-way tie for second place in the Southland Conference with Central Arkansas and Lamar at 8-3 following Saturday's 7-0 shutout win over Stephen F. Austin at the Arlington Tennis Center. The dual was played at a neutral-site location because the original date was washed out in Nacogdoches earlier this month.
Three days removed from an agonizing 4-3 defeat to the Southland Conference Champions from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (10-1), the Wildcats eliminated all suspense or drama by rolling over the Ladyjacks from top to bottom in singles.
Erin Walker,
Whitney Williams,
Sarah Eleanor Adams,
Autumn Crossnoe and
Jordan Henry all won in straight sets, and junior Lucile Pothier battled back from a set down to beat Darinka Tiboldi in three sets, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 10-2 to finish 10-1 vs. conference competition.
ACU's starting six all finished above .500 in league singles competition this year. Walker's win lifted her record to 6-5 at No. 1. Williams went 8-3 between the No. 2 and 3 lines, while Adams – a contender for Southland Conference Freshman of the Year – posted an 8-3 record at No. 4.
Autumn Crossnoe and
Jordan Henry were 6-3 and 6-4 respectively vs. the league at lines 5 and 6.
Overall, ACU registered a .688 (44-20) winning percentage in league singles and was an impressive 21-6 (.778) in doubles. Pothier and Williams won their match today at No. 1, 6-3, over the tandem of Denise Maxl and Gabi Guilarti to finish with a perfect 7-0 record, while Adams and Walker went 4-1 following their 7-5 decision over Vanesa Pardo and Sian Payne. Crossnoe and Henry lost their first match together in conference, 7-5, to Liza Aginskaya and Kaja Ljubic, following a 5-0 start.
Next up for the Wildcats is their third – and perhaps final – trip to Ojai, Calif., for the 117th annual Ojai Valley Invitational at Libbey Park.
Erin Walker won the Ojai's singles and doubles championships as a sophomore, and last season she lost in the doubles finals with Williams to her teammates Pothier and
Kaysie Hermsdorf, 8-7.
Abilene Christian 7, Stephen F. Austin 0
Apr 22, 2017 at Arlington, Texas (Arlington Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1.
Erin Walker (ACU) def. Maxl, Denise (SFA) 6-4, 6-3
2.
Lucile Pothier (ACU) def. Tiboldi, Darinka (SFA) 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 10-2
3.
Whitney Williams (ACU) def. Guilarte, Gabi (SFA) 6-1, 6-3
4. Sarah Adams (ACU) def. Payne, Sian (SFA) 6-0, 6-1
5.
Autumn Crossnoe (ACU) def. Aginskaya, Liza (SFA) 7-6 (7-5), 7-5
6.
Jordan Henry (ACU) def. Ljubic, Kaja (SFA) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles competition
1.
Lucile Pothier/
Whitney Williams (ACU) def. Maxl, Denise/Guilarte, Gabi (SFA) 6-3
2. Sarah Adams/
Erin Walker (ACU) def. Pardo, Vanesa/Payne, Sian (SFA) 7-5
3. Aginskaya, Liza/Ljubic, Kaja (SFA) def.
Autumn Crossnoe/
Jordan Henry (ACU) 7-5
Match Notes
Abilene Christian 17-6, 8-3 Southland
Stephen F. Austin 8-13, 4-7 Southland
T-2:41 A-36
