ACU men, women clinch titles

Wildcat teams each knock off Midwestern State in championship

ABILENE -- Jason Ray's three-set win Friday morning at the ACU Eager Tennis Center clinched ACU's 5-4 win over Midwestern State in the championship match of the Lone Star Conference men's tennis tournament.

The Wildcats' win over Mdwestern State clinched their fourth straight LSC men's championship, and it was their 12th straight 5-4 win dating back to last season.  The ACU women rolled past Midwestern State, 5-3, in the women's final to win their second straight LSC title and fourth in the last six years.

The ACU men took a 2-1 lead over MSU after the three doubles matches, but the Indians won matches at Nos. 2, 3 and 6 singles to take a 4-3 lead. 

But Kevin Beedy posted a 6-3, 7-6 straight-ses win over Midwestern State's Zac Dillard to tie the match at 4-4, and then Ray sealed the win by knocking off Charles Van Swelm 6-3, 6-7, 6-4.

Ranked No. 7 in the nation by the ITA, the ACU women dropped two of three doubles matches to face a 2-1 deficit heading into singles action. The Wildcats, however, won three of their first four individual singles matches to assume a 4-3 lead.

Sophomore Holly Lindloff helped capture ACU's title with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over Midwestern State's Michelle Beukes.

With both Wildcat teams clinching conference titles, ACU coach Hutton Jones said the Wildcats are ''a lock to host'' the Division II Central Region Tournaments, which will be May 5-6.