The Optimist

Media Credit: Brian Schmidt

For the first time since 2004, both ACU tennis teams are heading to the Division II National Tournament in Altamonte Springs, Fla.

Both teams won their respective Division II Central Region Championships on Friday, the men downed Cameron 5-1 and the women swept Midwestern State 5-0 at the Eager Tennis Center.

"It was really exciting," said head coach Hutton Jones. "We beat them pretty decisively."

The regional victories earn both the Wildcat men and women a berth to nationals, which run from Wednesday through Saturday.

The men, ranked No. 20 nationally, will face West Florida at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in the round of 16. West Florida touts a 23-3 record and a No. 1 national team ranking. If the Wildcats are able to upset the Argonauts, ACU will play the winner of the South Carolina Upstate-Concordia College match at 9 a.m. Thursday.

The women do not have an easy first round match either. The No. 12 ACU women will take on the No. 4 team in the nation, West Florida. If the Wildcats win, they will play the winner of South Carolina Upstate-California (Pa.) match at 1 p.m. Friday.

"Our goal is to get to the national tournament," Jones said. "Anything we can accomplish out there is icing on the cake."

This year marks the ninth overall appearance in the tournament for the men and the twentieth appearance for the women. The last time the ACU men were in the national tournament was 2004 when they lost in the first round to Southwest Baptist by the score of 5-3. The ACU women were in the tournament last year but fell in to BYU-Hawaii.

"It's really a satisfying feeling to get to savor both teams achieving the national tournament," Jones said. "Getting to go together is a lot of fun."

Email Freeman at optimist@acu.edu

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