ANDERSON, S.C. - After Anderson University men's and women's tennis have combined for three wins to open their respective seasons, the teams are faced with a pair of contests on Saturday and Sunday, headlined by the start of South Atlantic Conference play on Sunday. The Trojans open the weekend by continuing their nonconference schedules at Belmont Abbey on Saturday, beginning at 2 p.m., while welcoming Coker to Max Grubbs Memorial Courts for a 1 p.m. start on Sunday.
Men's Tennis Looks to Continue Winning Ways
The Trojans got off to a hot start for the 2015 spring season with
a 9-0 blanking of in-state rival, Southern Wesleyan, last weekend.
The tandems of the No. 2 team of Nicolas Ascarrunz and Paul Michael
Calhoun joined the No. 3 squad of Inaki Iriberry and Alex Wallace
were not scored on and cruised to 8-0 victories. At No. 1,
all-conference doubles team, Juan Carracedo and Mateo Rivas,
notched an 8-3 win.
The Trojans continued to add to their lead in the singles round as five of the six AU players in the lineup won in straight sets. Iriberry led the pack with a 6-0, 6-0 win at the No. 5 position, while Ascarrunz added a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 3 and Wallace claimed a 6-0-, 6-1 triumph at No. 6.
For Ascarrunz, the strong performance in his debut for the Black and Gold earned him AstroTurf SAC Player of the Week honors, becoming the first Trojan to earn the weekly award since Iriberry in 2013.
With a win on Saturday, Anderson would open the season with two straight wins for the first time since the 2001 season.
Women's Tennis is Rolling
The Trojans have posted back-to-back 9-0 victories in their last
two matches to open the season, marking the first 2-0 start by the
program in recorded history. Anderson began the 2015 spring season
with a 9-0 victory over Southern Wesleyan, followed by a 9-0
shutout of Columbia College on Thursday.
With three newcomers in the lineup, AU has not skipped a beat, as freshmen Abigail Gregory and Carolina Monterio won their first match on the court in doubles on Thursday at the No. 3 position, 8-2. In singles, Gregory swept her opponent at No. 5 with a 6-0, 6-0 win en route to Anderson's 9-0 win. Also winning with a 6-0, 6-0 score was Alexandra Ebner at the No. 3 positon, as all six Trojans in the singles lineup won in straight sets over the Fighting Koalas.
On Monday, sophomore Rebecca Bruning claimed her second career AstroTurf SAC Player of the Week nod for her two victories over SWU last weekend. Bruning, who was named to the Preseason All-SAC First Team before the start of the season, is 15-3 in her collegiate career.
The Crusaders
Both the men's and women's tennis team are opening their respective
seasons on Saturday after the teams played disappointing fall
seasons. On the men's side, the Crusaders finished 2-3 in the fall
with wins over Spartanburg Methodist (6-3) and Johnson C. Smith
(9-0). The women's team posted a winless 0-3 mark with setbacks to
Queens (9-0), JCSU (6-3) and Catawba (9-0).
The Cobras - Men
Coker began its season on Saturday with a 9-0 setback to
nationally-ranked Lander, as all six singles players fell in
straight sets. Prior to the start of the season, the Cobras were
projected to finish seventh in the annual SAC Men's Tennis
Preseason Coaches' Poll, released in late January. Last season, the
Cobras finished 11-8 on the season with a 9-2 mark in the SAC, but
saw its season cut short by eventual conference tournament
champion, Tusculum, by a 5-4 score.
Coker is led by All-SAC First Team selection Tom Sizeland, who closed the 2014 season with a 14-3 record while playing at the No. 2 position.
The Cobras - Women
Before the start of the spring season, the Cobras were picked 10th
in the Preseason SAC Coaches' Poll, but failed to place a player on
the preseason all-conference teams. Last year, Coker finished the
season without a win, as the program has not won a match since a
5-4 win over Belmont Abbey on April 7, 2013.
