Saints Men's and Women's Tennis Teams in OKC Full Recap

Liberal Kan.- After a filled weekend of matches in Tyler Texas the Tennis Teams were back on the courts again this past weekend but this time in Oklahoma City. The Men's team brought along 6 that played last weekend and added Tuur Vos to the lineup and the Women's team brought along 5 out of the 6 players that participated in Tyler. With majority of the teams being the same the teams were eager to compete and get back to their winning ways.

The tournament was set up if they lost their first match, they would go to the consolation bracket but if they won their first match it was win or get eliminated. For the Lady Saints Tennis team, they would participate in 3 separate single draws and 2 separate double draws. For the singles draw 1 Lucia Popluharovia would compete and win the first match 6-0, 6-2 but would fall in the quarterfinals 6-3, 6-0 to get eliminated. In Draw 2 the Lady Saints had both Hilary Alfaro and Mitzy Enderink but they would not play each other. Alfaro would win her first match 6*-2, 6-7, 10-4 in the tie break and would follow up that performance with another victory 6-1, and 7-5. Entering the semifinals Alfaro would fall 6-0, 6-4 but had an amazing run in the singles draw 2. Singles draw 3 would have Marialy Jimenez competing for the Lady Saints and would get a bye the first round, win the second match 7-6, 2-6, and 10-3. The semifinals Jimenez would lose in straight sets 6-0, and 6-4 but again with a great run in the singles draw 3 for the Lady Saints.

For Doubles draw 1 would see two sets of Lady Saints competing for the same prize in Hilary Alfaro, Mitzy Enderink and the second team being Liz Aristizabal and Lucia Popluharova. Alfaro and Enderink would win their first match 8-4 but fall in the quarterfinals 8-4. Aristizabal and Popluharova would get a bye in their first match then win their quarterfinal match 8-4 but would have to forfeit their semifinal match due to illness. Draw 2 saw a combination of a Lady Saint in Marialy Jimenez team up with Giada Zorzan a player from Southern Arkansas. Jimenez and Zorzan would get a victory in their first set 8-3 but fall 9-8 in a tough tie breaker.

The Men's tennis team would compete in 4 single draws and 2 double draws. After an impressive 4 double draws victory the previous weekend the Saints were looking to repeat their success. Draw 1 the Saints would have Oscar Ortiz compete and would get a bye in the first round, win the quarterfinal match 6-2, 3-6, 10-7 but fall in the semifinals 5-7, 6-2,10-2. Also, in draw 1 the saints had Raul Centeno he would lose his first match 6-0, 6-1 so he would be placed in the consolation bracket. Here is were Centeno would find his groove winning the first-round match 6-1, 6-1 and the second match 6-2, and 2-0 due to injury. Centeno would get the win the consolation championship 6-0, 6-1 for the Saints.

Draw 2 would have two Saints in action with Fabian Van Huffel and Francisco Vargas. Van Huffel would getting a bye in the first round and losing 6-4, 6-0 to be placed in the consolation bracket. Van Huffel would win the first match 8-4 but fall in the semifinals 7-5, 6-2. Vargas would win his first match and go on to win his quarterfinal match 7-6, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals. In the semifinals of draw 2 Vargas would lose 6-3, 6-3 to end his run in singles. In the singles draw 3 the Saints had two players competing in Karl Wurth and Juan Gonzales. Gonzales would get a bye his first match and win the quarterfinal match 7-6, 7-5 but fall in the semifinal round 1-6, 6-4, 10-5 a battle but came up just a little short. Wurth would also get a bye in the first round and battle to win 4-6, 7-5, and 10-7 in the quarterfinals. The semifinals would go to Wurth again 7-6, 7-6 and for the Championship match Wurth would once again get the victory 6-4, 6-1 to claim the first singles title of the season for the Saints. In draw 4 of the singles side the Saints had Tuur Voss and Valentine Ortiz. Voss is entering his first matches of the season and would get a victory right out of the gate winning 6-0, 6-0 but would fall in his next match 6-4, 3-6, 10-7. Ortiz would get a bye in his first match and win his quarterfinals match 6-1, 6-0 but would lose in the semifinals 6-4, 3-6, 10-7.

The Doubles draw 1 had two sets of Saints competing with Raul Conteno and Oscar Ortiz teaming up and Jaun Gonzales and Fransisco Vargos also teaming up for the draw. Conteno and Ortiz would get a bye the first round and win the second match 8-4 and, in the semifinals, winning 8-6. The Championship would once again go to Conteno and Ortiz 8-6 for the second weekend they would win a doubles championship but for the first time on the same team.  Gonzales and Vargos also competing in the draw would win their first match 8-3 but fall in the second-round match 8-6. In the doubles draw 2 the Saints had Fabian Van Huffel and Karl Wurth, with Valentine Ortiz and Tuur Vos also competing. In the draw Ortiz and Vos would sweep their first match 8-0 but fall 8-5 in their quarterfinal match. Van Huffel and Wurth would get a bye their first match and would win their second match 8-1. The semifinals would also go to Van Huffel and Wurth 8-6 to get to the championship game where they would win again 8-4 to claim their second doubles title in two weekends but this time on the same team. Wurth claimed both a singles title and a doubles title to bring home some extra luggage back to Liberal.

Competing again this weekend brings more information for Head Coaches Chase Ashley and Assistant Coach Dylan Strickland to use and figure out the best places for each individual student athlete. With again another strong showing in the doubles draw the Men's team will be a tough match up for any opponent in the double side of the draw. With Karl Wurth winning on both sides of the draw look for his involvement in the team's success to continue throughout the fall season. The Lady Saints being all freshman are building confidence weekend after weekend and will have more time to compete against each other and opponents to gain more knowledge of the competition level. With just 2 weekends under their belts the Saints will be once again on the road this weekend with the Midwestern Invitational.