Howard Payne University Yellow Jackets

ABILENE, Texas — The Howard Payne Yellow Jackets and Lady Jackets took part in the American Southwest Conference Tennis Individual Championships this past weekend, and put forth a solid showing.

“Overall I was pleased with their performance” said HPU head coach Sally Brown. “Many of our players are new freshmen and this was their first college match. We have a lot of potential and I am excited about the future of both of our teams.”

The HPU men’s doubles team of Ross Sidman and Raymond Borjas competed in Flight 2, where they advanced to the semifinals before falling to the eventual champions from UT-Tyler.

Chris Sutton played in Flight 1 and fell in a third set tiebreaker to the No. 1 overall seed, Mark Taylor of LeTourneau.

Sidman, in Flight 2 singles, reached the semifinals before falling to the eventual champion from UT-Tyler.

Borjas advanced to the semifinals in Flight 4 before being upended by a UT-Tyler competitor. Luis Vallecillo played in Flight 6, while Will Thomas competed in Flight 7, and both made it to the semifinal round.

In Flight 8, Devin Deihl won the consolation championship.

Also participating for the Jackets this weekend were Jeff Toyne in Flight 3, Tam Le in Flight 5 and Carlo Flores and Mario Jiron in Flight 7.

In men’s doubles action, the Sutton-Toyne team played in Flight 1, while Flores and Ryan Prather competed in Flight 3. The Thomas-Vallecillo team and Deihl-Jiron team were Flight 4 participants.

The Lady Jackets’ doubles team of Cassie Emerson and Kandace Schuelke reached the semifinals before falling to the UT-Tyler team that went on to win Flight 3.

Darrah Blackwater won consolation in Flight 1, while Maddie Daugherty made the semifinals in Flight 2. Schuelke also won consolation in Flight 5, while Codi Fisher made it to the Flight 6 consolation final.

The next action for the Yellow Jackets occurs Sept. 25-27 as they take part in the ITA Regional in Dallas. The Lady Jackets will compete in the ITA Regional in San Antonio Oct. 2-4.