The Seward County women’s tennis team is having one of its best years ever. Barton found that out first hand.
The Saints rolled by the Cougars by a 9-0 score in Jayhawk Conference action. For Barton, the Cougars dropped to 3-4 in duals. Seward, ranked 4th in the NJCAA, is now a perfect 14-0. The No. 4 ranking is the highest in school history.
“Some of our women continue to struggle closing out matches,” Coach Lyle Stickney said. “Again it’s a frustrating Sisyphean burden – they play great for 80 percent of the match only to see it slip away at the end.”
The Cougars did put up a good challenge in a couple of singles matches. Daniela Sanz and Idah Longwe both battled at No. 1 and No. 3 singles. But in the end, Barton could not capture a match.
Sanz gave Thalita Rodrigues a battle at No. 1. Rodrigues won the opening set 6-4 and finished it off with a 7-5 win. Longwe took Maminiaina Rakotondrazafy to a tiebreaker at No. 3 singles before losing 6-3, 2-6, 10-4.
“Both Daniela and Idah were in control of their singles matches,” Coach Stickney said. “But the critical errors they each made at the end, through loss of focus or impatience or poor decisions, ultimately cost them the match”.  
No other Cougars won more than two games in a set.
Mialiniaina Rakotondrazafy won by a 6-0, 6-2 score at No. 2 singles over Juliana Seabra. Karli Beck lost at No. 4, 6-2 and 6-1 to Nthabi Mogopodi. The Cougars were blanked in the final two spots as Baylee Reade lost at No. 5 and Kenna Hammeke at No. 6.
In doubles, the team of Sanz and Longwe were the only ones to win a game. The duo lost 8-2 at No. 1 to the Rakotondrazafy sisters.
Seabra and Beck lost 8-0 to No. 2 to Mogopodi and Rodrigues while Reade and Hammeke fell by the same score to Tadi Mrewa and Madison Hoelting.
Barton will be back in region action Tuesday when the Cougars travel to Hesston to take on Cowley College.