ABILENE – The Abilene Christian women's tennis team won its fourth-straight match Saturday with a convincing 7-0 victory over Southland Conference rival Stephen F. Austin. ACU is now 12-7 overall and 6-3 vs. the league with two conference matches remaining (at Incarnate Word and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) before the Southland Conference Championship.
Today's match was played indoors at the Teague Event Center due to high winds.
After being engaged in six previous one-point duals, including five in Southland Conference play, today's final score looked like a well-earned break as the Wildcats won all six singles matches in straight sets and captured two of three doubles matches. ACU's No. 1 doubles pairing of Pothier and Williams rallied from an early deficit to clinch the all-important first point, but everything afterward seemingly clicked for the Wildcats in singles play.
Junior
Autumn Crossnoe – winner of six-straight matches – was the first off the courts following her 6-1, 6-1 decision over Kaja Ljubic, and
Lucile Pothier pounced on Gabi Guilarte at No. 1, 6-0, 6-2 to give the Wildcats' a 3-0 lead. Freshman
Nini Memishishi then held off Sian Payne, 6-2, 6-4, for her team-best 15th win of the spring and the match clinching point.
Memishishi has won her last seven matches and is 8-1 against conference opponents.
ACU was pushed a bit harder by its opposition on the even-numbered courts even though the results all landed in the win column. Sophomore Sara Adams defeated Armelle Cerdan, 6-4, 6-4 on the No. 4 court and senior
Whitney Williams edged Darinka Tiboldi, 7-5, 6-4 at No. 2 for her 12th win of the season.
Jordan Henry today played in only her third Southland match of the season, and first since March 12 vs. Lamar, and came away with a 6-2, 7-5 triumph over Nida Kamal. Henry trailed 5-4 late in the second set before winning the final three points.
ACU's next two Southland matches are on the road for April 14 and 16, and then the Wildcats' will come home for their regular-season finale vs. Oklahoma Baptist on Tuesday, April 24.
Abilene Christian 7, Stephen F. Austin 0
Mar 31, 2018 at Abilene, Texas (Teague Event Center)
Singles competition
1.
Lucile Pothier (ACU) def. Guilarte, Gabi (SFA) 6-0, 6-2
2.
Whitney Williams (ACU) def. Tiboldi, Darinka (SFA) 7-5, 6-4
3.
Nini Memishishi (ACU) def. Payne, Sian (SFA) 6-2, 6-4
4. Sarah Adams (ACU) def. Cerdan, Armelle (SFA) 6-4, 6-4
5.
Autumn Crossnoe (ACU) def. Ljubic, Kaja (SFA) 6-1, 6-1
6.
Jordan Henry (ACU) def. Kamal, Nida (SFA) 6-2, 7-5
Doubles competition
1.
Lucile Pothier/
Whitney Williams (ACU) def. Guilarte, Gabi/Kamal, Nida (SFA) 6-4
2. Sarah Adams/
Nini Memishishi (ACU) def. Ljubic, Kaja/Cerdan, Armelle (SFA) 6-2
3. Tiboldi, Darinka/Payne, Sian (SFA) def.
Ileana Mocciola/
Autumn Crossnoe (ACU) 6-3
Match Notes
Stephen F. Austin 1-15 (1-7 SLC)
Abilene Christian 12-7 (6-3 SLC)
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (5,1,3,4,2,6)
T-3:35 A-50
