Carter earns career coaching victory No. 100

LONGVIEW – The undefeated and ranked LeTourneau University YellowJackets tangled with another swarm of YellowJackets…from Howard Payne University (ASC West Division rivals) on Friday. 

 

There were a couple story lines coming into the matches. First, the women had never defeated HPU, as they have been a powerhouse program on the west side of the American Southwest Conference. Secondly, Head Coach Doug Carter (sixth year from Gilmer, Texas) came into the weekend sitting on 98 career wins in the NCAA. 

 

As doubles matches started, the LETU women jumped out quickly with Mary Lauren Bright (Gladewater, Texas) and Brooke Kincade (Sugar Land, Texas) winning 8-5. Teammates Caitlyn Hairell (San Marcos, Texas) and Kerrie Nelson (Houston, Texas) were right on their heels with more positive tennis news, an 8-6 win. 

 

There wasn't a No. 3 match as both teams had injuries. 

 

In a race to 4, LETU felt confident…as they should have. Bright continued the smart play on court 2, as she jumped out to a fast lead winning the first set 6-1; then holding on valiantly for the 8-6 win in a 2 ^nd set tie-breaker. Hairell (this weeks ASC Player of the Week, along with Taylor off the guys team) much like her teammate handed her opponent a rough welcome in the first set, winning it 6-2. The second set though turned into a nightmare, losing it 3-6. The third set was handled with a 10-point match breaker, that Hairell gutted through 10-7 to lock away the team overall win. 

 

The LETU women went on to win Courts 3 thru 5 without dropping a set to finish the 7-0 sweep. The win moves the ladies to 4-0, 1-0 for the season with 2 more tough matches here tomorrow, starting at 9:30AM…followed by highly ranked Hardin-Simmons.

 

In the men's match, LeTourneau went up 2-1 in doubles with close matches being played before a large home crowd. Uli de la Fuente (El Paso, Texas) and Wade Sinard (Corpus Christi, Texas) won quickly on court 3, 8-2. Court 2 was a close one, with HPU taking it 8-6. Court 1 came down to Mikey Parker (Bullard, Texas) and Carlos Cantu (Brownsville, Texas) fighting their way back from a break down, then making some incredible shots down the stretch to take the team point, 9-7. Singles matches went on next, with LETU holding a slim 2-1 lead. 

 

David Robbins (Corpus Christi, Texas) ran over his opponent on court 3, 6-2, 6-2. Jacket No. 1 player, Mark Taylor (Paris, Texas), the ASC East Division Player of the Week, handled a former LETU recruit 6-4, 6-2 to make the LETU lead move out to 4-1. 

 

Shortly there after, HPU got back on the board as their normal No. 1 Chris Sutton took a 6-2, 6-4 win on court 2. The experienced senior Sinard was clutch then on court No. 5, as he clinched the overall match with a smooth 6-0, 6-0 victory. Fellow senior Paul Haney (Corpus Christi, Texas) split sets on court 6 to finish things, while HPU picked up a close win on court 4. Final score, LETU 6 HPU 3. #10 ranked LeTourneau returns to the courts Saturday morning at 9:30AM against 11 ^th ranked McMurry University. The win moved the team to 5-0, 1-0 on the young season.

 

The two wins got Carter to NCAA win No. 100, all at LeTourneau. When asked about it, "I'm excited with the progress we've made with this program. It's never been about me. It's about all these great kids I've been lucky enough to work with. I'm blessed to be part of a great school and a fun, winning team…we just have to keep working harder and getting over hurdles!"& amp; amp; amp; lt; /div>