BEAUMONT, Texas – The Abilene Christian women's tennis team opened the Western Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday afternoon, defeating top seed Grand Canyon 4-3 in a three-hour thriller. The win is the first for an eight-seed in the history of the tournament, and five of the last seven matches have now come with a final score of 4-3.
"It was an amazing environment today in our match. I have been talking a lot lately about how this team is really starting to come together and start to play our brand of tennis, and today was a great example of that," assistant coach
Bryan Rainwater said. "The doubles point didn't go our way, but I saw good energy the entire time in doubles. That energy carried over to the singles and we just kind of took off. Having our men's team there supporting us was just icing on the cake. I'm very proud of this team and the fight we showed. We are ready for the semis."
INSIDE THE MATCH:
- Host: Lamar University
- Site: Beaumont Municipal Tennis Complex
- Location: Beaumont, Texas
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Lopes swept the doubles point, but Andrea Guerrero tied the score at 1-1 with a 6-2, 6-4 victory in the fourth singles flight.
- Allison Stewart put ACU in front with a 6-2, 6-4 win in the second flight, but GCU answered with a tiebreaking win on Court 3.
- The top-seeded Lopes retook the lead with a 6-3, 6-3 victory in the top flight, and Paula Garrote once again pulled the Purple and White even with a 7-6, 6-2 win on Court 6.
- All eyes shifted to Court 5, where Ileana Mocciola outlasted GCU's Autum Prudhomme 6-3 to put the Wildcats in Saturday's semifinals.
UP NEXT:
- ACU will take on four-seed Seattle on Saturday, with doubles action set to begin at 12:00 p.m. from Beaumont.
#GoWildcats
