Saints Play Well But Forfeits Costly in Trojan Classic
The matches that are played on the court haven't been the problem for the 20th ranked Seward County Saints this season; it has been the ones that haven't that have hurt the guys in green. In the Seminole State Classic this weekend in Oklahoma City, Seward was 12-6 in matches played, but it was the 9 points that went unplayed that cost them, as the Saints lost a pair of close matches to Collin County and Jacksonville wrapped around a win over Jayhawk rival Barton to finish the weekend 1-2.
In their first match of the tournament the Saints faced a tall task as they battled the 5th ranked Collin County Cougars. It was a classic matchup at #1 doubles where Seward's #1 ranked duo of Ronzai Saurombe and Alejandro Gonzalez took down Collin's 7th ranked pair of Christian Cozetee and Graham Shaw 8-6 to pick up the Saints first point of the day. The #2 doubles match went 8-6 in the Cougars favor and Collin took a 2-1 lead on a Seward forfeit at #3 doubles.
As they started singles play with two wins at #5 and #6 because of Seward forfeits, Collin rested Cozetee and Shaw, both ranked in the top 20, for singles action. The Saints took advantage at the top of the lineup as 41st ranked Gonzalez took down 50th ranked Brandon Yang 6-3, 6-3 in #1 action and 10th ranked Saurombe beat Matt Bolster 6-0, 6-2 in #2 play to get the Saints a pair of points. In #3 action the Saints Trevor Kipping mounted a big comeback to take down Gino Rameri 5-7, 6-1, 10-8 to earn his fifth win of the year, but Collin got the point at #4 in a 6-0, 6-0 decision to take the match 5-4.
#20 SEWARD COUNTY/#5 COLLIN COUNTY MATCH RESULTS
The Saints were looking for revenge in their next match of the weekend as they took on Region VI rival Barton who surprised the Saints with a 6-3 win over them earlier in the year. The Saints caught a break before the match as Barton's top player Vinicius Ono was forced out of action due to an injury sustained earlier in the week. Saurombe and Gonzalez took advantage of his absence in #1 doubles action as they earned an 8-0 win and Kipping and Colin Glassman won an 8-6 decision at #2 doubles to give Seward a 2-1 lead at the end of doubles play.
The match of the day came at #1 singles where Gonzalez played a marathon with Alvaro Martinez, coming out on top 6-7 (3), 6-4, 10-7 to take the point at the top of the lineup. In #2 singles Saurombe had no trouble with Christian Johnson, winning 6-0, 6-1 and Kipping moved to 6-0 on the year with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Nicholas Moyers in #3 play. Barton grabbed the point in the #4 match and took the two points due to Saints forfeits at the bottom of the lineup, but it wasn't enough as Seward had already clinched the match with a 5-4 victory.
#20 SEWARD COUNTY/#19 BARTON MATCH RESULTS
In the consolation bracket final the Saints took on #13 Jacksonville College out of Texas. In the upset of the weekend, Jacksonville's unranked #1 doubles team of Richard Berlinga and Edgar Polanco took down the #1 ranked pair in the country of Saurombe and Gonzalez 9-8 (8-6) to give the Jaguars a big point at the top of doubles action. In #2 doubles the Saints almost got an upset win of their own as Kipping and Glassman battled 34th ranked Gil Lim and Daniel Aupaucible to a 9-8 (8-6) decision that again the Jags got the best of to put the Saints down 3-0 after doubles.
In singles the Saints turned the tables as Gonzalez had Polanco skunked in #1 play as he led 6-0, 1-0 before Polano left with an injury to give Gonzalez the win. Saurombe had little trouble with Berlinga in #2 action, winning 6-2, 6-2 while Kipping kept on winning at #3 with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Lim to give the Saints a third point. Jacksonville picked up the point at #4 singles and then accepted the two forfeits at #5 and #6 to take the match 6-3 over Seward.
#20 SEWARD COUNTY/#13 JACKSONVILLE MATCH RESULTS
Seward ends the weekend at 2-5 on the year while their individual match record is now 28-35 and matches played record sits at 28-14.
The Saints will be on the road once again Tuesday when they travel to Wichita to take on Johnson County in a key Region VI matchup in Wichita.