It was an up-and-down weekend for the Barton women’s tennis team. The Cougars were beaten up pretty good in their match Thursday but closed out Saturday with an impressive win.
In between, Barton took time to play an exhibition match against Fort Hays State Friday in Ellinwood. Three matches in three days.
Barton lost 7-2 Thursday to Tabor College in Hillsboro. The Cougars lost the exhibition match 5-4 and closed out a busy weekend with a 9-0 blanking of Bethany in Lindsborg.
Barton won just two matches against Tabor, winning No. 1 doubles and No. 3 singles. The doubles teams of Daniela Sanz and Idah Longwe remained unbeaten as did Longwe in singles.
Sanz and Longwe knocked off Jessica Emoto and Heidi Klaassen in doubles, winning 8-5. Longwe won her singles match against Celeste Worthy in easy 6-2, 6-1 fashion.
Sanz lost for the first time at No. 1 singles, losing 6-1, 7-5 to Emoto. Baylee Reed put up a battle at No. 5 singles, losing 3-6, 6-0, 10-6 to Lindsey Stroud.
“Not only did we get thumped, but we got all nicked-up in the process,” Coach Lyle Stickney said. “We left with an ankle sprain, two are down in the back, and another has a shoulder issue. It is not a good time to start having these health problems”.
Friday in the exhibition match, the Cougars lost 5-4 to the Tigers.
“We finished 4-5, we certainly didn’t play our best, but I was encouraged with some of the things that I saw,” Coach Stickney said. “It was great to see Daniela get back on track after her surprising loss at Tabor. She played so much better and hit the ball a ton.”
The Cougars closed out the weekend with a drilling to Bethany. Barton won every match in straight sets, with only Juliana Seabra getting challenged. Seabra held off Amelia Fabrizius at No. 2 singles, 7-5, 6-2. The rest of the team lost a combined two games.
“The ladies toughed it against Bethany and put their aches and pains aside,” Coach Stickney said. “We were able to field a full squad, I had some concerns on Friday. As it turned out Bethany was in the same situation with injuries and it was their team that couldn’t compete in every division”.
Bethany defaulted matches at No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles.
“We needed a win like this. The women cruised in their matches only giving up nine games in seven matches. Idah continued her winning ways staying unbeaten in both No. 3 singles (6-0) and No. 1 doubles (6-0) this spring.”
Indeed, Longwe teamed with Sanz for an 8-0 win over Fabrizius and Kittey Edwards in doubles. In singles she to a 6-0, 6-0 win.
Sanz also had an easy day in singles, winning No. 1 over Edwards, 6-1, 6-0, and has just the lone loss on the season at Tabor.
Seabra and Karli Beck rolled at No. 2 doubles, 8-1 and Beck won No. 4 singles, 6-0, 6-0. Also winning 6-0, 6-0 in singles was McKenna Hammeke at No. 5.
Barton will get some time to heal up. The Cougars will not be back on the court until next Tuesday when they travel to Liberal to take on Seward County. The Saints are unbeaten on the season and ranked No. 10 in the nation.