Tiger men’s tennis team blasts Barton 9-0; Lady Tigers fall 5-4
In a matchup of top-10-ranked teams Thursday in Arkansas City, the No. 2-ranked Cowley College men's tennis team defeated No. 7-ranked Barton County 9-0, while the No. 4-ranked Lady Tiger tennis team suffered a tough, 5-4 loss to the No. 5-ranked Cougars.
The Tiger men, who recently moved up to No. 2 in the national rankings behind only Tyler Junior College, did not drop a set in the throttling of Barton County.
"I am so proud of our boys," Cowley head coach Manuel Raga said. "They played a great match all around and it showed in the scorecard."
Sophomore Jack Clements remained unbeaten at No. 1 singles with a convincing 6-4, 6-1 win over Samrakshyak Bajracharva.
"Jack is still hungry and wants to continue to get better," Raga said.
After losing two of three doubles matches, the Lady Tigers had their opportunities to win the match in singles play, but dropped a pair of matches in three sets.
"Our girls had plenty of opportunities, we just did not take advantage of them and ended up losing the match," Raga said. "We need to find ways to win these close matches against top opponents. We have another opportunity on Saturday as we face a great team in Drury University, but must play better in order to win."
Cowley's Ane Ibarra and Andrea Rodriguez were a bright spot in defeat as they teamed to win at No. 3 doubles and each won their singles matches.
The Tiger tennis teams will play at NCAA Division II Drury University Saturday at 2 p.m. in Springfield, MO. The Drury men are ranked 14th nationally.
Results:
WOMEN
DOUBLES
*No. 1 - Laura Quezada & Lea Rebreyend (CC) lost to Annunciata De Souza & Natsuki Nishimura (BC) 2-8.
*No. 2 - Isid Hernandez & Saara Kunakunova (CC) lost to Alexandra Abyasova & Malena Hernandez (BC) 2-8.
*No. 3 - Ane Ibarra & Andrea Rodriguez (CC) defeated Hailey Vinroe & Angelina Gnezilova (BC) 8-5.
SINGLES
*No. 1 - Isid Hernandez (CC) lost to A. Abyasova (BC) 4-6, 6-3, 5-7.
*No. 2 - Laura Quezada (CC) defeated A. De Souza (BC) 6-2, 6-2.
*No. 3 - Lea Rebreyend (CC) lost to N. Nishimura (BC) 2-6, 0-6.
*No. 4 - Saara Kunakunova (CC) lost to A. Gnezilova (BC) 6-4, 2-6, 4-6.
*No. 5 - Andrea Rodriguez (CC) defeated M. Hernandez (BC) 6-4. ret
*No. 6 - Ane Ibarra (CC) defeated H. Vinroe (BC) 6-0,6-0.
MEN
DOUBLES
Doubles:
*No. 1- Jack Clements & Takeshi Taco (CC) defeated Samrakshyak Bajracharva & Eduardo Morais (BC) 8-2.
*No 2 - Aymeric Bruno & Alejandro Orihuela (CC) defeated James Kaoma & Barnabas Kalaba (BC) 8-5.
*No. 3 - Carlos Castillo & Andoni Garmendia (CC) defeated Victor Pestana & Yordi Ponce (BC) 8-4.
SINGLES
*No. 1 - Jack Clements (CC) defeated S. Bajracharva (BC) 6-4, 6-1.
*No. 2 - Aymeric Bruno (CC) defeated J. Kaoma (BC) 6-1, 6-4.
*No. 3 - Alejandro Orihuela (CC) defeated E. Morais (BC) 6-3, 6-0.
*No. 4 - Andoni Garmendia (CC) defeated V. Pestana (BC) 6-1, 6-2.
*No. 5 - Javier Gonzalez (CC) defeated B. Kalabas (BC) 7-5, 6-2.
*No. 6 - Anastasis Lavdas (CC) defeated L. Caspe (BC) 6-3, 7-5.