Saints Split First Matches of 2015-2016
The Greg Owen era of Seward County Saints Tennis began with a split this Saturday in Shawnee, Oklahoma as Seward battled NCAA Division II member Oklahoma Baptist as well as NJCAA powerhouse Seminole State to open their 2015 Fall season. In their first match of the day, the Saints outlasted the host Bison 5-4 to claim victory while a pair of close singles matches going Seminole State's way gave the Trojans a 6-3 win over Seward to wrap up the day.
In their opener against Oklahoma Baptist, the Saints claimed a pair of highly contested doubles matches to grab the early edge. Przemek Zielinski and Ondrej Nice teamed up as the Saints top duo at #1 with an 8-6 victory while Felipe Casares and Tare Mariga won a 9-8 (6) tiebreak to win at #3 to give Seward a 2-1 lead into single action. Nice sailed to a 6-1, 6-0 win at #5 singles to put the Saints up 3-1 while Mariga took care of business at #6 to make it 4-1 Seward. OBU picked up three singles wins to tie the match up, but Ngoni Makambwa picked off Luis Romero 7-6, 7-5 at #2 singles to seal the 5-4 win for the Saints.
A pair of top 10 teams from the 2015 NJCAA National Tournament hooked it up next as the Saints battled regional rival Seminole State. Casares and Mariga once again put a point on the board early for Seward in #3 doubles, but Seminole was able to take the tally at #1 and #2 to hold a 2-1 lead into single action. A strong top of the lineup for the Trojans made short work of the Saints at #1 and #2 to give Seminole a 4-1 lead in the match, but a straight sets 6-4, 6-3 win by Mariga at #6 kept Seward alive for the time being. Nice played the match of the day at #5 against Marcos Guimaraes, pulling out a dramatic 7-6 (2), 3-6, 12-10 win for the Saints, but Seminole earned victories at #3 and #4 to seal the match 6-3.
Seward opens their fall campaign 1-1 and will now turn their focus to the Seminole State Classic Tournament Friday and Saturday, September 18th and 19th in Oklahoma City.