Saints Put Together Strong Showing in Fall Finale
The Seward County Saints wrapped up their 2016 Fall campaign in style on Saturday in Plano, Texas, going 31-9 as a team in the Collin County Open to finish their prep season as one of a handful of National favorites going into next Spring.
ITA Regional Champion doubles partners Carlos Anez and Ondrej Nice each took the court as seeded players in the #1 draw for the Saints. Nice collected two solid wins before being upended in the semis by Tyler's Enrique Pando while Anez cruised to three straight wins to reach the finals where he went to the wire with Pando before eventually succumbing 7-6, 7-6 to finish second.
Seward sent two more to the fold in #2 singles, Przemek Zielinski won his first round match but fell in the quarters while Duro Opacic steamrolled the competition in the first three rounds before knocking off former Seward County National Champion Alejandro Gonzalez of Newman 6-3, 6-1 in the final to earn the #2 singles title.
Tyler again proved the nemesis for the Saints in the #3 draw where Ngoni Makambwa won two relatively easy duals, but couldn't get past the Apaches Aaron Westerland in the semis to end his tournament in third.
Lautaro Monardo was Seward's lone competitor in the #4 bracket and he showed well for the Saints, earning a pair of wins in the first two rounds before falling 6-2, 7-6 in the semifinals to Andrew Parker of Seminole State to finish third in the draw.
Claudio Quinones picked up a first round win in the #5 draw, but faced a stiff task in the quarterfinals where he dropped a 6-0, 6-2 decision to Big 12 competitor Gianni Manchi of TCU to see his tournament come to an end.
In the #6 draw, Seward's Renato Santos dominated the competition. The Saints freshman was challenged in only one of his eight sets played, cruising to four straight set wins to earn the flight championship over Newman's Ajani King.
Tuning up for their trip to the ITA National Tournament, Anez and Nice looked sharp in the #1 doubles draw for the Saints. The duo collected a pair of 8-4 wins in the quarters and semis and an 8-2 victory in the opening round to reach the final which they were forced to default in due to travel concerns.
Two Saints pairs went into the mix in #2 doubles with Makambwa and Santos combining for two wins before a close loss in the semis while Zielinski and Opacic breezed all the way to the finals on their size before earning an 8-4 win in the championship bout to earn the #2 doubles title.
Monardo and Quinones were the last Saints to hit the court in doubles action and they gutted through a pair of tough wins to advance to the semis where they downed a Newman pair 8-2 to make it to the finals. In the title match they were upended by the home team from Collin however, falling 8-3 to finish as runners-up.
The Saints went 31-9 overall in the tournament, collecting three bracket titles to finish up the fall.
Anez and Nice will now look to put a bow on the Saints solid fall season with a trip to the ITA National Tournament in Surprise, Arizona later this week.