Seward Finishes 6th and with a Pair of All Americans

Preston Caldwell

TYLER, Texas – Under first year Head Coach, Brett Bridel, the Lady Saints finish one point shy of a top five placing with 26 points they capture a 6th place finish at nationals and in the process Camille Belberka and Carol Mora are named 2023 NJCAA All-Americans. Seward County finishes behind ABAC for the tournament and 20 points behind 2023 National Champions Hillsborough Community College.

With two matches on the slate for the Lady Saints on the final day of action at the 2023 NJCAA Women’s Tennis National Championships there was hope that they could secure a top five finish to cap off the 2022-23 season. Camille Belberka would start the day off by winning the #1 Singles title over Alexandra Melnikova of Cowley College in straight sets 7-6, 6-3. With the win, Belberka is now recognized as a 2023 NJCAA First Team All-American. Next up was Carol Mora, who battled it out for three sets against Cowley’s Arina Babenko but would drop the decisive set finishing as runner-up in the #2 Singles flight. Mora will be recognized as a 2023 NJCAA Second Team All-American. After these two results and others throughout the day the Lady Saints would fall one point shy of a 5th place finish.

This is the third straight year following covid the Lady Saints tennis program has had a top six finish at the National tournament. Last year Camille Belberka and Carol Mora were a part of the program’s best 3rd place finish. This year with only 5 student-athletes on the roster it is an accomplishment on its own just to make the tournament and they exceeding expectations with a 6th place finish.

Full list of results and All-Americans can be found here:https://www.njcaa.org/sports/wten/2022-23/div1/national_championship/championship_recap