The No. 4 ranked Barton Community College men's tennis team set the tone early and held firm through singles play Thursday afternoon, defeating No. 7 Seward County Community College 6-3 at the Shannon Schartz Tennis Courts.
Playing on their home courts in Great Bend, the Cougars built their advantage behind a strong doubles showing before leaning on the top half of the lineup to secure the ranked victory. The win adds another quality result for Barton in a matchup between Top-10 programs.
Barton grabbed two of three doubles contests to claim the early point, highlighted by an 8-5 victory at No. 1 from Charles Alipoe and Raphael Ankrah. The Cougars also edged a tightly contested No. 3 match as Armando Sigauque and Kristian Tesevic outlasted their opponents 9-7, overcoming Seward County's win at No. 2.
Carrying the momentum into singles, Barton struck quickly with decisive wins atop the lineup. Alipoe controlled the No. 1 position with a 6-1, 6-2 victory, while Ankrah followed with a 6-2, 6-1 decision at No. 2 to extend the lead.
Seward County picked up a pair of three-set wins in the middle flights including a come-from-behind 6-3 deciding set victory over the Cougars' Santiago Villarroya, with Barton closing by winning the final two flights. Esi Molefe delivered a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 5, and Tesevic sealed the team victory at No. 6 by battling through a super tiebreak for a 6-2, 3-6, 10-6 triumph.
The Cougars return to action Thursday, April 9, traveling to No. 2 Pratt Community College in a 2:00 p.m. start, before concluding the conference slate on Tuesday, April 14, hosting No. 5 Cowley College.
Barton secured the doubles point by winning two of three matches, including a pair of victories decided by three games or fewer. In singles, the Cougars claimed four of six matches, with three coming in straight sets and another requiring deciding sets. Alipoe and Ankrah combined to drop just six total games across four sets at the top two positions, while Tesevic's super tiebreak victory provided the clinching sixth point.