Saints Hang On for Pair of Titles From Texas

The Seward County Saints captured a pair of championships Saturday at the Southwest Juco Championships in Plano, Texas as Carlos Anez won the top flight in the singles draw while Duro Opacic and Przemek Zielinski collected a title at #3 doubles to wrap up a successful weekend for Seward in the Big D.

Carlos Anez finished his weekend off strong for the Saints, backing up a win over 2nd ranked Ferran Calvo in the semifinals with a straight sets victory over Cowley’s Giovanni Dos Santos in the title match to collect the hardware at #1.

Duro Opacic played for the title at #2 on Saturday, but couldn’t get past the top ranked player in the country in Tyler’s Jorge Martinez, falling 6-2, 6-3 to settle for a second place finish.

At #3 it was Ondrej Nice’s turn to play for a championship for the Saints, but like Opacic, couldn’t outlast Tyler’s Enrique Pardo in a hard fought title match and finished second in the tournament.

Przemek Zielinski took on Cowley’s Julian Aubry-Damon in the third place match at #4 and breezed to a 6-3, 6-4 win to finish third on the weekend.

Claudio Quinones bounced back from an opening round defeat at #5 with a 6-4, 7-6 win against Zach Frisbe of Colin in the consolation final to finish fifth.

Tyler again got the best of Seward in a title match at #6 as Ngoni Makambwa came up short against Phillip Franken to finish second.

Anez and Nice faced two tough matches in #1 doubles action Saturday, first dispatching of Seminole State 8-3 in the second round to reach the title match where they fought Tyler to the finish, but came up short 8-6 to settle for second.

Alex Mosehle and Gabriel Nery played well, but again couldn’t overcome a powerful Tyler team in their second round match, but finished the weekend on a high note with a win over Seminole State in the third place match to finish third.

Opacic and Zielinski paired at #3 for the Saints and played solidly, earning an easy 8-3 win over Seminole in the second round and then surprised Tyler with a 9-7 victory in the championship match to take home the booty in the #3 doubles bracket.

The Saints finish Saturday 7-5 as a team and take two titles back to Liberal.

Seward will now turn their attention to the postseason where they will lock up with Barton, Hesston, and Cowley on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in Great Bend at the Region VI Tournament.

SOUTHWEST JUCO CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/mten/2016-17/files/MSWJuco2.pdf>

Women

There were some ups and there were some downs for the Seward County Lady Saints Saturday at the Southwest Juco Championships in Plano, Texas as Seward failed to bring home any hardware from the tournament, but won all three of their head to head matches against the rival Cowley Tigers just one week ahead of the 2017 NJCAA Region VI Tournament.

Thalita Rodrigues won her lone match of the day, defeating Seminole State’s Viktoria Seifert 6-2 in the first set before Seifert retired to give Rodrigues a third place finish in the #1 draw.

Sarah Manseri marched through to the championship match on Friday, but Saturday was a different story as she ran into a buzz saw in Tyler’s Kalani Soli in a 6-2, 6-0 loss to finish second at #2.

In #3 singles, Lisa Suzuki took a 6-1, 6-3 match in the backdraw over Jaymie Waites of Colin County to finish 5th.

Steffany Bermudez cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Cowley’s Mabi Garduno for third place at #4 while Martina Borges fell in her third place match at #5, 6-3, 6-3 against Essence Green of North Central Texas to finish fourth.

Fernanda Santana put up a fight against Tyler’s Elena Tendero at #6, but came up on the short end of a 6-2, 7-5 decision in the title match to finish second.

In doubles action, Rodrigues and Suzuki put together a statement win at #1, burying Cowley 8-3 in the semis before going down 8-2 in the championship match against Tyler to finish second.

Bermudez and Manseri earned a spot in the championship match at #2 with an 8-4 win over Colin in the semis, but like Rodrigues and Suzuki, couldn’t overcome the Apaches in the title match, falling in a tight 8-6 dual to finish second.

Tadi Mrewa and Madison Hoelting opened some eyes at #3 by advancing to the title match with an 8-6 grinding win over Cowley in the second round and just about pulled off the upset against Tyler in the championship match, just barely falling in a 9-8 tiebreak to settle for second.

Seward finished Saturday 6-6 overall and will have one final tuneup Wednesday at Blue Bonnet Courts in Liberal against Cowley before heading to Great Bend for the Region VI Tournament next weekend.

SOUTHWEST JUCO CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/wten/2016-17/files/WSWJuco2.pdf>