Clara Penido and Azul Barrios of the 11th Barton Community College women's tennis team were the lone survivors of the Cougars' Round of 16 competitors at the NJCAA Division I National Tennis Championships in Tucson, Arizona.
Overall, day two action at the Reffkin Tennis Center left the Cougars with the pair of Quarterfinal berths while three seasons ended on the court with another three ending due to injury defaults. Top flight competitor Angelina Gnezdilova had the day off, set to resume Monday at 9:30 a.m. in the Consolation Quarterfinal round.
Penido, 36th nationally ranked and the No. 2 flight 8th seed, pulled off an upset according to the national rankings in defeating 26th ranked Viktoriia Fedorva of Collin College 6-4 and 6-2. Next up is a Monday, 9:30 a.m. Quarterfinal bout against top seeded and 2nd ranked Destinee Martins of Tyler Junior College.
Seeded 6th in the No. 4 flight, Barrios dispatched Sarah Forsyth from State College of Florida 6-4 and 6-2. Like Penido, Barrios will also begin her Monday Quarterfinal match at 9:30 a.m., but will do so against a familiar fellow Region VI member, 3rd seeded and 30th ranked Saara Kunkunova of Cowley College. The national stage tangle will be a rematch of their epic April 12 three set battle, splitting the first two sets as Kunkunova took the first set 7-5 and Barrios claiming the second 6-2, with Kunkunova prevailing 10-7 for the victory.
Paula Curci took the lone loss on the court, falling 6-2, 6-2 to 7th seeded Marija Ristanovic of Weatherford College to end her singles play for the season.
Other losses on the court to end the season in the Round of 16 came in doubles play. The No. 1 flight tandem of Gnezdilova/Penido fell 6-4, 6-2 to 3rd seeded and 3rd ranked Valeriia Cherfus/Naomi McKenzie of St. Petersburg College with the No. 2 flight duo of Barrios/Curci lost by the same 6-4, 6-2 scores to 5th seeded and 14th ranked Mariia Koroleva/Camila Neyra of Cowley College.
Malena Hernandez and Jacie Roth both defaulted from their 3rd and 6th flight Round of 16 matches respectively, to then also have to withdrawal from their No. 3 flight doubles.