Mc PHERSON – It was a tough day for the Barton men’s tennis team at McPherson College Tuesday afternoon. Lined up against some talented international players the Cougars were blanked by the Bulldogs, 9-0.
“Once again we face an entire international line-up,” Coach Lyle Stickney said. “Our Kansas boys battled, but, it’s hard to match-up with some very talented tennis prodigies from across the globe.
“They have kids that are Parisians, Moroccans, Scandinavians, denizens of the Dutch lowlands, Spaniards and an opponent from the Indian Subcontinent.”
The Cougars took a pair of the singles matches to a third set but that would be highlight for Barton.
Those matches were at No. 2 and No. 6 singles.
Vitor Schueler lost to Hector Carrillo Perales of Spain in three sets at No. 2. Schueler won the opening set 6-3 then lost 7-5 in a close second set and 10-7 in the tiebreaking third set.
At No. 6 Tristan Jones had a similar match. Jones defeated Pedro Ribes to start the match then lost the next two sets in a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 battle.
“Tristan had a good match today losing in a three-set marathon,” Coach Stickney said. “He played great winning the opening set, but, he couldn’t maintain that level of play the rest of the match.”
The other close battled in singles came at No. 3 where Matthew Rochat lost a close first set 7-6 (4) then fell 6-2 in the second set to Allen Darmawan.
Alvaro Martinez lost at No. 1 singles to Ahmed Lahlou, 6-4, 6-0. Dominic Fabiano lost at No. 3 singles by a 6-0, 6-1 count to Hugo Ball-Greene and Trevor Carey lost No. 5 singles to Puneet Dave, 6-1, 6-3.
The closest doubles match of the day came at No. 3 where Jones and Carey lost 8-4 to Darmawan and Pablo Gallo. Fabiano and Rachet lost No. 2 to Ball and Jaimie Roman by an 8-3 score as did Martinez and Schueler at No. 1 to Lahlou and Joan-Marc Fajula Rodriguez.
The Cougars will not get two weeks off before host Seward County March 24.
“We have some time now to work on our court issues and in some cases heal-up persistent aches and pains,” Coach Stickney said. “We also have some kids that are getting over various illnesses.”