The University of Texas at Dallas women’s tennis team claimed its third straight and fourth overall American Southwest Conference (ASC) championship April 30 with a 5-0 win over Hardin-Simmons University at the UTD Tennis Complex.
The Comets (11-2) will next play in the NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis National Championship. Pairings, dates and locations for the regional round of the tournament will be announced Monday, May 9.
Saumya Vedula was named ASC tournament MVP as she netted victories in both of her matches in the finals. Vedula won the No. 3 singles match 6-2, 6-4, and she and teammate Rebecca Jackson lost only one game to win the No. 2 doubles match. The Comets swept the other two doubles matches with the No. 1 team of Samantha Wong and Elyssa Ducret scoring an 8-2 win, and the No. 3 team of Megan Zeng and Suzuka Nishino beating their opponents 8-3. Wong also won the No. 1 singles match, 6-0, 6-1.
Jackson, Wong and Tisha Nakakes-Nguyen joined Vedula as All-ASC selections.
The Comets won their first ASC title in 2013, then claimed the championship in 2019 and 2021. There was no event in 2020 due to COVID-19. The women’s tennis team is the second Comet program to win three ASC championships in a row, joining the volleyball program’s run from 2015 to 2017.
Other Comet Competitions
The UT Dallas baseball, softball and track and field teams will compete in ASC championship events this week.
The baseball team will host a double-elimination, first-round bracket starting Friday. The Comets will face Concordia University Texas at 3 p.m. Belhaven University and Hardin-Simmons are the other two teams in the bracket.
The softball team will open its tournament against McMurry University in a single-elimination, first-round game Thursday in Cleveland, Mississippi. The sixth-seeded Comets will face the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor later Thursday if they advance.
The men’s and women’s track and field teams will participate in their conference championship meets Thursday through Saturday in Abilene, Texas.
Women’s golfer Karen Alvarez, who was named the ASC Golfer of the Year this spring, became the first Comet to earn an individual spot in the NCAA Division III Women’s Golf National Championships, which begin Tuesday, May 10, in Houston. She was one of six golfers selected to compete after the Comets finished their season in third place at the ASC tournament.