ABILENE – The Abilene Christian doubles team of junior Sarah Adams and freshman
Allison Stewart reached the championship match of the Midland Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational this past Sunday. This was the Wildcats' first tournament of the fall season.
The unseeded Wildcats won three matches to reach the finals, upsetting two top-four seeds along the way. Adams and Stewart first defeated the UTEP duo of Kirsten Prelle and Vanessa Valdez, 8-6, and in the quarterfinals they doubled up Penn State's fourth-seeded combination of Chelsea Sawyer and Gabby O'Gorman, 8-5.
Adams and Stewart notched another victory over a Power 5 Conference school in the semifinals, edging No. 2 seed Emma Wilson and Camila Westbrooks of Arizona, 9-8, but in the finals they were outlasted by Texas Tech's three-seeded tandem of Sydney Jones and Olivia Peet, which earlier eliminated ACU's Autumn Crossnoe Bellow and
Stephanie Pitts in the quarterfinals, 8-4.
Adams and Stewart also earned the Wildcats' lone singles victories. Adams defeated Hana Sisirak of UAB, 6-2, 6-3, in the first round of the back draw, and Stewart beat Sisirak's teammate Dominika Hrabalova, 6-2, 6-4, in the first round of the main draw.
Stewart would be eliminated in the next round, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, by No. 7Alexandra Pisareva of Utah State, while Adams fell to Carla Pons of UTA in their second round consolation match, 6-2, 7-5.
Next up for Wildcat tennis is a trip to Boulder, Colo. for the Colorado Invitational, Sept. 28-30.
Midland RC Collegiate Invitational
Womens Main Draw | Singles First Round
#8 Sydney Jones (Texas Tech) def.
Autumn Crossnoe Bellow (ACU), 6-1, 6-4
Hannah Jones (Utah State) def. Sarah Adams (ACU), 6-1, 6-1
Allison Stewart (ACU) def. Dominika Hrabalova (UAB), 6-2, 6-4
Sammi Smith (Penn State) def.
Stephanie Pitts (ACU) 6-0, 6-1
Second Round
#7 Alexandra Pisareva (Utah State) def.
Allison Stewart (ACU), 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
Back Draw | Singles First Round
Vanessa Valdez (UTEP) def.
Autumn Crossnoe Bellow (ACU), 2-6, 6-0, 10-3
Sarah Adams (ACU) def. Hana Sisirak (UAB), 6-2, 6-3
Nanaka Takeuchi (UTA) def.
Stephanie Pitts (ACU), 6-2, 6-2
Second Round
Carla Pons (UTA) def. Sarah Adams (ACU), 6-2, 7-5
Doubles First Round
Stephanie Pitts /
Autumn Crossnoe Bellow (ACU) def. Carla Pons / Nanaka Takeuchi (UTA), 9-7
Allison Stewart / Sarah Adams (ACU) def. Kirsten Prelle / Vanessa Valdez (UTEP), 8-6
Quarterfinals
Allison Stewart / Sarah Adams (ACU) def. #4 Chelsea Sawyer / Gabby O'Gorman (Penn St.), 8-5
#3 Sydney Jones / Olivia Peet (TTU) def.
Stephanie Pitts /
Autumn Crossnoe Bellow (ACU), 8-4
Semifinals
Allison Stewart / Sarah Adams (ACU) def. #2 Emma Wilson / Camila Westbrooks (Arizona), 9-8
Finals
#3 Sydney Jones / Olivia Peet (TTU) def.
Allison Stewart / Sarah Adams (ACU), 8-6
