ABILENE, Texas – The McMurry University men's and women's tennis teams played host to the American Southwest Conference Fall Invitational in Abilene this weekend.
McMurry was one of seven ASC schools to compete, including Concordia Texas, East Texas Baptist, Hardin-Simmons, Howard Payne, LeTourneau and Mary Hardin-Baylor. Non-conference programs Schreiner and St. Thomas (Texas) also joined the field.
The lone draw winners from McMurry came in women's doubles action, as junior Claire Hillyer and freshman Hope Turner teamed up to take Flight B.
The duo swept round one, 6-0, over St. Thomas' Gonzalez/Ard and then went on defeat East Texas Baptist's Roberts/Davis team. In the flight finals, Hillyer and Turner edged Hardin-Simmons duo Hathorn/Schimming in an 8-6 battle.
Flight A of women's doubles also saw a strong performance from upperclassmen Gabrielle Ellwanger and Neah Garza, who fell in the semifinal to eventual winners Cassandra Landeros-Cabrera / Isabella Wiik (Concordia Texas). Ellwanger and Garza did win the final game, 6-3, over Schneck/Wilcoxson of ETBU.
In singles action, Ellwanger won the consolation bracket of Flight D with a dominant win over Alondra Torres Diaz (UMHB), 6-1, 6-0, and a narrow 9-7 victory over Corinne Hall of ETBU. Fellow junior Morgan Parnell also won her consolation bracket in Flight C, defeating opponents from Concordia and ETBU.
Turner also saw a runner-up finish in Flight F, defeating Schreiner's Iris Montero 7-5, 6-3 in the first round, then Maddi Davis of ETBU in the semifinals, 6-1, 6-3. She was edged in the tie-breaker set of the finals by HSU's Emily Shaffer (3-6, 6-3, 13-11).
Freshman Emily Nuttall put up a strong outing in Flight I, winning the consolation leg with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Ashley Mena (Schreiner) and an 8-2 win over Laurel Turco of UMHB, 8-2.
Another freshman, Taryn Fambrough, fell in the Flight H finals, but recorded a 7-5, 6-3 win over UMHB's Macie Dehnisch and a 6-0, 6-0 sweep of CTX's Veronica Gutierrez.
In men's singles, senior Carlos Martinez put up a strong battle in Flight A to finish as the runner up.
Martinez defeated Alejandro Omana from Mary Hardin-Baylor, 6-1, 6-3, before moving to the semifinals to take down Juan Rodrigo Lopez from St. Thomas, 4-6, 6-1, 10-5. Concordia Texas's Joshua Bode edged Martinez for the individual crown.
Martinez was joined by sophomore Chase Daniell in doubles action, making a run to the finals in Flight A with wins over Cabreja/Cervantes from Schreiner, 8-6, and Henson/Farris of LeTourneau, 6-3. Hardin-Simmons duo Nathaniel Schoendorf / Holt Fields fought them off at the end to win the final, 8-6.
Also in doubles, the McMurry team of juniors Joseph Diaz and Trey Fambrough fell in the opener of Flight E, but recovered to win the consolation bracket with a 6-1 win over Corbett/Gallinar (SU) and a 6-3 win over Hernandez/Jost (Howard Payne).
Freshman Reid Smith and junior Chris Causer also won their consolation bracket in Flight D, earning a 6-4 win over Aaron/Huckabee of UMHB in the consolation final.
Up next, Both tennis teams will continue their fall seasons with ITA Regionals. The women's Southwest ITA Regional will be played in Abilene September 20-22. The men's Southwest ITA Regional is scheduled September 26-29 in Georgetown, Texas.
For more via the ASC, click here.
