From Barton Athletics
The 6th-ranked Barton Community College women's tennis team placed third Saturday at the two-day Region VI Championships held at Great Bend's Schartz Tennis Courts in Veteran's Memorial Park.
The Cougars finished with 7.5 points, edged out for the runner-up spot in the weekend's last event of the No. 1 doubles battle as the 7th ranked Seward County's duo increased the Saints top to 8 points by defeating Cowley College's top tandem. The nation's second-ranked Cowley Tiger squad won six of the nine events in capturing the team title with 15 points while 25th-ranked Pratt was shutout in the point-earning system.
Tshegofatso Tsiang won the Cougars' lone region title, the nation's 25th ranked player prevailing into the No. 3 flight singles finals on a 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 victory over Seward County's Ana Isabela Serrano to cap the championship with a straight set 7-5, 6-4 upset win over Cowley's' 19th ranked Isid Hernandez.
Azul Barrios was the lone other Cougar in the singles finals, advancing to the finals 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 knocking off 47th ranked Jaena Morais before falling 6-4, 6-3 to Cowley's 24th ranked Ntokozo Zungu.
Third place singles finishes were 9th ranked Clara Penido in the top flight, 11th ranked Luciana Braga in the No. 2 flight, and Ana Vasilis in the sixth spot.
In double's third-place finishes, 9th-ranked Penido/Tsiang pulled out a 7-4 tiebreak to win 9-8 in the No. 1 flight over Pratt's Dominique Van Vuuren and Emily Ryan while the Braga/Barrios tandem won their No. 2 match by an 8-1 score over the Beavers' Nathalia Rodriguez and Olivet Shove.
Carmen Lyons and Vasilis were Barton's other runner-up placing, dropping the No. 3 doubles match final falling 6-0, 6-2 to Cowley's 19th-ranked Mariia Koroleva and Camila Neyra.
Barton now has two weeks for final adjustments and tune-ups in preparation for the NJCAA Division I National Tournament in Tyler, Texas, held May 6-10.