Saints Move Up Four Spots at NJCAA Tennis Tournament

After a rather uneventful day one Monday at the NJCAA National Tournament in Plano, Texas, the Seward County Saints made their first big push on Tuesday, collecting seven wins to jump four spots in the tournament standings to #6 with 20.5 points overall.

Following a disappointing loss in the opening round, the Saints #1 man, Carlos Anez got revenge on Tuesday, downing Marion Military’s Adam Bahney 8-5 in the consolation bracket to pick up a half point for Seward. Anez will now take on Mississippi Gulf Coast’s Bryan Allen Wednesday morning in the quarterfinal round.

At #2 singles, Seward’s Przemek Zielinski fought hard against 13th ranked Ciro Lampasas of Tyler, shocking the Apache star in the first set 6-4, but Zielinski couldn’t regain that momentum, dropping 6-1, 6-0 decisions in the second and third sets to drop the match 2-1. Zielinski finishes his tournament in 9th place.

In a key match for the Saints in #3 singles, Seward sent 26th ranked Ondrej Nice to the court to battle 23rd ranked Aykut Apturahman of Abraham Baldwin. Nice was sharp, blowing past Apturahman 6-1 in the first before dominating the second to the tune of a 6-0 win to push on to the quarters on Wednesday where he will battle David Felix of Mesa, a team within the Saints sights in the tournament standings.

Alex Mosehle also had a tough match for Seward in #4 singles as he dueled Laredo’s Victor Bravo. Mosehle slipped past Bravo 6-3 in the first and put a matching 6-3 score on him in the second to advance to the third round on Wednesday. In his quarterfinal matchup, Mosehle will get Abraham Baldwin’s Ray Donovan.

After picking up a first round by in the #5 draw, Felipe Casares took the court for the first time Tuesday for the Saints. Casares squared off against Collin’s Emilio Chavez and had little problem with him, putting a 6-1, 6-2 beating together to secure a pair of points for the Saints. Casares will now take on Bradley Schug of Hartford in the quarters Wednesday.

The final Saint to get going in singles action was Ngoni Makambwa at #6. Makambwa earned a first round bye before breezing by his second round opponent Alejandro Clarke of Hartford by a count of 6-2, 6-2 to move onto the quarterfinal round Wednesday where he will take on ASA’s Emmanuel Popadinec.

Seward’s first doubles pair to go on Tuesday was at #2 where Anez and Nice represented the green and white. The pair took care of business in their second round bout, knocking off Meseguer/Tswako of ASA to advance to the quarterfinals. They will face a tough task Wednesday in the quarters as they take on Franken/Lampasas of Tyler.

Makambwa/Mosehle were the last Saints to take the court in doubles action at #3 as they took on Graells/Parra of Hartford. Makambwa/Mosehle had little trouble, downing Graelle/Parra 6-2 in the first before hammering them 6-0 in the second to seal the deal. They advance to the quarters on Wednesday where their road gets noticeably tougher as they go up against Anders/Powell of Tyler.

At the end of two days of competition, Seward sits in a 6th place tie with rival Cowley with 20.5 points while ASA Miami, Seminole State, and Tyler are all tied atop the standings with 27 points.

NJCAA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT DAY TWO RESULTS<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/mten/2015-16/files/2016Men-sNationalsDay2.pdf>