ABILENE – Abilene Christian men's tennis won its 20th match of the season Saturday with a 4-3 victory over UTSA on the indoor courts of the Teague Events Center. Freshman
Dimitris Azoides scored the match-winning point at No. 4 singles, coming back from a set down to defeat Juri Reckow, 5-7, 7-5, 6-4.
The Wildcats' 20-win campaign is their first since 2012, when they posted a 21-9 record en route to reaching the NCAA DII quarterfinals.
"This was another barn burner, a very close match" said head coach
Hutton Jones. "We lost the doubles point but won three three-setters, and it came down to Dimitris being the only one on the court and he wins 6-4 in the third.
"This was huge because UTSA is a very good team. I'm excited about the toughness shown by our side winning back-to-back 4-3 matches yesterday and today ... and to step up and beat a team like this today after starting down in a hole showed some real persistence and resilience. That's exactly what it's going to take if we accomplish what we need to accomplish. I'm proud of this win."
Junior
Jackson Fine and senior
Cole Lawson were 7-6 winners at No. 1 for their ninth win of the spring, but Josh and John Sheehy lost 6-4 at the No. 2 line and freshman
Riley Tran and junior
Nikolas Moceanu were edged 7-6 by Javier Gonzalez and Alan Sanson at No. 3.
ACU surged back into the lead thanks to three-consecutive wins at the top three positions. Fresh off his Southland Conference-clinching win over Incarnate Word,
Jonathan Sheehy defeated Joao Ceolin 7-6 (4), 6-3, and then brother Josh rallied to beat Kai Breitbach, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, for his sixth-consecutive victory that puts him at 17-4 overall.
Moceanu again was involved in another three-set battle – his 10th of the spring – but came out on top, 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (5) for his 13th victory. The junior's record in three-set matches is a solid 7-3.
UTSA rallied to tie the score once more at 3-3 following its straight-set wins at No. 5 and 6, but Azoides was able to halt his three-match losing streak by holding off Reckow in their third set.
Azoides is second to
Josh Sheehy on the team with 16 singles victories.
The Wildcats return to action Tuesday, April 23 with a 5 p.m. match vs. their old DII Lone Star Confernece rivals from Midwestern State.
Abilene Christian 4, UTSA 3
Apr 13, 2019 at Abilene, Texas (Teague Indoor Center)
Singles competition
1.
Josh Sheehy (ACU) def. Kai Breitbach (UTSA) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
2.
Jonathan Sheehy (ACU) def. Joao Ceolin (UTSA) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
3.
Nikolas Moceanu (ACU) def. Javier Rodriguez (UTSA) 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5)
4.
Dimitris Azoides (ACU) def. Juri Reckow (UTSA) 5-7, 7-5, 6-4
5. Javier Gonzalez (UTSA) def.
Riley Tran (ACU) 6-4, 6-4
6. Alan Sanson (UTSA) def.
Akinori Wada (ACU) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles competition
1.
Jackson Fine/
Cole Lawson (ACU) def. Kai Breitbach/Juri Reckow (UTSA) 7-6
2. Joao Ceolin/Patrick Poestinger (UTSA) def.
Josh Sheehy/
Jonathan Sheehy (ACU) 6-4
3. Javier Gonzalez/Alan Sanson (UTSA) def.
Riley Tran/
Nikolas Moceanu (ACU) 7-6
Match Notes
UTSA 13-9
Abilene Christian 20-4
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,1,3,5,6,4)
T-4:00 A-100
