Bids for title berths came to an end Thursday in Tyler, Texas, as the 6th ranked Barton Community College men's tennis team had its final entries knocked out of the NJCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships.
The Cougars leave Tyler, Texas in fourth place of the team standings with 28 points headed to Friday's final day of action. Fellow Region VI members Seward County Community College and Cowley College are battling for the team title at 42 and 41 points respectively in being chased by Tyler Junior College in third with 39 points. Chasing Barton for the fourth spot are Collin College with 27 points and ABAC with 24 points.
The lone singles player to survive into the semifinals, No. 4 flight's 3rd seeded Barnabas Kalaba's battle came up short by 6-4 twin set losses to 2nd seeded Gaston Erhardt of Cowley. Erhardt advances into Friday's championship match against the top seed Emilio Vila of Tyler.
Kalaba's second chance shot at the title match was also derailed in the afternoon's No. 2 flight semifinals. Teaming with James Kaoma, the 3rd seeded duo fell 6-3, 6-2 to 2nd seeded Diego Dalisay and Tim Riedel of Tyler to conclude Barton's stay in Texas. The Apache duo moves on to Friday's championship match to take on Cowley's top seeded pair of Gaston Erhardt and Boruch Skierier.