LAWTON, Oklahoma (February 21) – The Cameron men’s (5-2) and women’s (3-1) tennis teams kicked off their home schedule today with an impressive sweep of Oklahoma Christian University. So far this season the Aggies have surpassed the expectations set by their high national rankings. The men’s and women’s teams were ranked No. 18 and No. 40, respectively, to begin the season.
“In a nutshell I am very pleased with how we played,” Head Coach James Helvey said. “OCU is a very tough team and we did great.”
The Aggie men’s team dominated the Eagles 8-1, winning all three doubles matches and five of six singles matches. Cameron’s three doubles teams dropped a combined six games in their matches, a remarkable total.
On the singles side the only loss came in the No. 3 match. Cameron senior Tin Hinst fell to OCU’s Adalid Martinez, 6-4, 6-2. Hinst suffered a minor ankle injury in his match but fought through to finish it out.
Two of the men’s singles matches came down to a decisive third set, but Cameron was ultimately able to prevail. Cameron’s No. 1 player, junior Ignacio Murgier, defeated Juraj Surov in three sets, 7-5, 6-7 (7-3), 6-3. The Aggies’ other three-set victory came courtesy of the No. 6 player, freshman Vitas van Dijk, and his victory over Zack Lee. Van Dijk actually fought back from a 0-1 deficit to sweep the remaining two sets. His final match score was 4-6, 6-2, 10-6.
“I was expecting our men’s team to play very well, and they delivered,” Coach Helvey said.
On the women’s side the Aggies came away with a 5-4 victory. Cameron won just one of the three doubles matches, but was able to win four of the six singles matches.
Senior Sandra-Leigh King and freshman Heather Doslich were the lone Aggies to win both their doubles and singles match. The duo teamed up to defeat OCU’s Tarryn DeSouza and Lela Rundle 8-3. King also defeated DeSouza 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) when the two matched up in singles. Doslich defeated Grace Finley without dropping a game (6-0, 6-0) in the No. 6 match.
“Our women’s team really exceeded my expectations,” Coach Helvey said. “We beat OCU 5-4 last time so we were ready for another close match. I am very, very pleased with how the girls played.”
In the No. 1 match, senior Thatianne Moreira gave OCU’s Jennifer Le a run for her money in a three-set thriller, but it wasn’t enough. The match came down to a final set and was scored 6-3, 3-6, 10-3.
Junior Viviana Seca was unable to compete in the match for Cameron due to a hand injury that kept her sidelined.
The Aggie women’s team stays home to host Central Oklahoma (9:30am) and Tarleton State (2:30pm) this Friday, February 23rd. They also host Northeastern State on Saturday to finish out their current four-match homestand.
The men’s team is off until Tuesday, February 27th when they travel to Norman to battle the University of Oklahoma Sooners.