WICHITA FALLS, Texas (April 23) – Central Oklahoma rolled past Cameron in the first round of the Lone Star Conference Women’s Tennis Championships here Thursday before falling to defending champion Abilene Christian in the semifinals.
The No. 28-ranked Bronchos waltzed past CU 6-2 for their second win in a week over the Aggies, but dropped a 5-0 decision to the No. 7 Wildcats. ACU will take on Tarleton State for the league title Friday morning.
“I was proud of the girls for the way they played today,” UCO coach Natalya Smith said. “We played really well against Cameron, but just didn’t quite have enough today to stay up with Abilene.”
The Bronchos, now 14-7 on the year, are expected to receive an at-large berth into the NCAA Division II national tournament when those bids are handed out next week.
UCO won two of the three doubles matches against the Aggies in taking an early lead in the first-round bout and then closed it out with straight-set singles wins by Julia Shviadok, Julie Vo, Lacy Caldwell and Amy Cabato.
The Bronchos fell behind 3-0 after doubles play against ACU, including a tough 9-8 setback at No. 1 by Audrey Donovan and Caldwell. The Wildcats then ended the match with two singles wins, leaving the other four singles bouts incomplete.
UCO 6, Cameron 2
Doubles
No. 1 – Irene George/Sophia Rich, CU, def. Audrey Donovan/Lacy Caldwell, 8-6.
No. 2 – Julia Shviadok/Elizabeta Abramovic, UCO, def. Sara Flores/Shaneka Knight, 8-6.
No. 3 – Julie Vo/Amy Cabato, UCO, def. Carolina Mullor/Heather Doslich, 8-1.
Singles
No. 1 – George, CU, def. Donovan, 6-1, 6-3.
No. 2 – Shviadok, UCO, def. Rich, 6-3, 6-3.
No. 3 – Vo, UCO, def. Flores, 6-0, 6-4.
No. 5 – Caldwell, UCO, def. Knight, 6-1, 6-1.
No. 6 – Cabato, UCO, def. Doslich, 6-3, 6-1.
Abilene Christian 5, UCO 0
Doubles
No. 1 - Dina Pavlin/Jaclyn Walker, ACU, def. Donovan/Caldwell, 9-8.
No. 2 – Irene Squillaci/Cassie Carver, ACU, def. Shviadok/Abramovic, 8-2.
No. 3 – Lauren White/Sarah Drummond, ACU, def. Vo/Cabato, 8-4.
Singles
No. 4 – Carver, ACU, def. Abramovic, 6-2, 6-2.
No. 5 – Pavlin, ACU, def. Caldwell, 6-0, 6-1.