Women's Tennis | 4/21/2015 1:52:00 PM
Ojai Tournament Information (Draws, Results, Locations, Maps)ABILENE - There are the occasional perks to being postseason ineligible, and in the case of the Abilene Christian tennis program it means chartering a flight bound for Southern California this week rather than hopping aboard a seven-hour bus ride to Beaumont for the Southland Conference Tournament.
No disrespect to Beaumont or the league, but it's going to be hard for any Southland locale to trump the Wildcats' weekend destination of Ojai, Calif., where they'll be competing in the Independent College Division of the 115th Annual Ojai Valley Tournament, April 23 to 26.
Libbey Park, located in the heart of Ojai, is where the historic tournament will be headquartered during the four days of competition, but the Wildcats will first be spread across several locations that touch the sea and mountains of western Ventura County. Overall, The Ojai is played on over 100 courts at over 30 locations.
ACU's opposition in Ojai includes fellow NCAA DI transition member Grand Canyon plus several nationally ranked DIII programs such as Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Pomona-Pitzer, Cal Lutheran and Chapman.
The men's singles bracket, consisting of 28 competitors including Wildcats
Henry Adams,
Nico Agritelley,
Marco Bensley,
Guilherme Gesser and
Jason Proctor begins Friday at Ventura's Camino Real Park before moving onto the Ojai Valley Athletic Club for the quarters and semifinals. Sunday's final will take place at Libbey Park.
Gesser and Agritelley are seeded second and sixth, respectively, and each has received a first-round bye.
Gesser, a senior, won five matches competing at No. 1 singles this spring and went 2-3 in dual play against Southland opposition. Agritelley, meanwhile, led the team with 19 victories and was a perfect 5-0 against the league.
Gesser and Agritelley will continue to play together in doubles this weekend after posting a 10-10 dual season record. They are seeded second to the San Diego Christian duo of Brendan Aguilar and Leonard Urquidi.
The women's singles bracket is substantially larger as it will start with 55 competitors including ACU's
Kaysie Hermsdorf,
Nada Marjanovic,
Lucile Pothier,
Brittney Reed and
Erin Walker.
The first-and-second round matches for the ladies will be split between Ventura's Pierpont Racquet Club and Ventura College, while Camino Real Park will play host to the quarters. Saturday's semifinals will then take place at the Ojai Valley Athletic Club and the finals Sunday at Libbey Park.
Reed is the highest of the three seeded Wildcats at No. 3, while Walker is No. 6 and Hermsdorf the No. 7 seed.
Reed held down the No. 1 singles position for most of the spring and won five times, including three against conference opposition.
Walker experienced a great second half to the season in which she responded to the challenge of moving up to the No. 2 position by posting a 7-1 record. She was 13-6 overall and 8-3 against the Southland.
Hermsdorf also posted a double-digit win total in singles, finishing at 10-7 overall, and was nearly unbeatable in doubles play alongside Reed.
The combo of Reed and Hermsdorf won 18 of 20 finished matches, which included five wins at the season-opening tournament hosted by Indiana and eight vs. Southland opponents. They also ended dual season on a four-match winning streak to give them a 12-2 record at No. 1.
Reed and Hermsdorf are seeded third this week behind teams from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Westmont, while Pothier and Walker are seeded seventh.
The other ACU men's doubles team in action at The Ojai is Adams and Proctor, which recorded an 8-1 dual-season record.
Doubles matches begin Thursday and will move around in a similar fashion with Pierpont (women) and Camino Real (men) welcoming the first two rounds, followed by the Ojai Valley Athletic Club (semis) and Libbey Park (finals).
