Seward Tennis Climbs Ladder in Day Two

The Seward County Lady Saints are moving in the right direction as after ending day one of the NJCAA National Tournament in 14th place, the gals in green pushed three spots ahead on Monday, moving into 11th in the tournament standings.

After pulling a first round upset, Naomie Bukassa took the court for the Lady Saints in #4 singles against Natalie Landa of Collin County. Bukassa struggled to ever find her stroke in the Sweet 16 match, falling 6-0 in the first before picking up a game, but dropping the second 6-1 to end her tournament run.

In #6 singles, Grace Golden had the battle of the day for the Lady Saints going up against Kacey Byrd of Itawamba. In the first set it was Byrd picking up a 6-3 win, but Golden bounced back in the second, winning 6-4 to force a deciding third set. This time the momentum shifted back to Byrd as Golden fell 6-2 to lose the match 2-1. In the consolation round, Golden didn’t have any better luck, losing 8-0 to Sydney Brummett of Seminole State to wrap up her singles portion of the tournament.

Kellyn Peters had one of Seward’s first round wins on Sunday, but didn’t have the same luck on Monday in #3 singles play. Peters went up against 7th seeded Ashlee Priddey of Broward and went down hard 6-1, 6-0 in the round of 16.

Paula Coyos was the first of the Lady Saints dynamic duo at the top of their lineup to hit the court. Coyos received a first round bye with her #2 seed in the #2 singles bracket and had no trouble in her first match of the tournament in the Sweet 16, bouncing Kamiliah Thomas of Florida State- Jacksonville 6-0, 6-2 to earn the Lady Saints first entry into the quarterfinals.

Paula Lopez was the final Lady Saint to get into the action at nationals on Monday as her #3 seed in the #1 singles bracket also gave her a first round bye. When she took the court, she didn’t look like she had a bit of rust on her, drilling Rachel Farmer of Snead State 6-0 in the first set before finishing her off 6-1 in the second to punch her ticket to the quarters.

Xochitl Gonzalez dropped her first round match on Sunday, but rebounded with an 8-4 win over Jessica VanOosten of Sauk Valley in the first round of the consolation bracket at #5 singles on Monday.

In #3 doubles, Golden and Bukassa teamed up for the Lady Saints first pairs win of the tournament. The duo took on Dennis/Mundel from Lewis & Clark and downed them 8-4 to advance to the second round of the consolation bracket.

In #2 doubles, Peters and Gonzalez went up against 6th seeded Foster/Rodriguez from North Central Texas in the round of 16. The Lady Saints duo fought hard in the first set, but couldn’t get over the hump in a 6-4 defeat. The second set wasn’t as close though as they fell 6-1 to be eliminated from the tournament.

Lopez and Coyos were unstoppable in their first doubles match of the week. Seeded #2 in the top doubles bracket, the pair easily dispatched of Karp/Oropeza of Pima to each secure their second quarterfinal match.

The Lady Saints finish day two with 10 points to give them 16 total in the tournament. Their 16 points are good enough for 11th place at the end of day two of competition. As expected, ASA and Tyler climbed up the ranks to tie each other for first place with 27 points while the Lady Saints Region VI rival Cowley sits 6th with 21 points and Barton is 20th with 7 points.

Roy Allen