Lady Saints Punch Their Ticket to Nationals
The Seward County Lady Saints finished as runners-up at this weekend's Region VI Championships in Arkansas City to punch their second straight ticket to the NJCAA National Tournament. Paula Lopez and Paula Coyos led the way for Seward, each winning their singles brackets while combining to dominate the #1 doubles bracket in the tournament.
In the #1 singles bracket, Paula Lopez reigned supreme. The sophomore breezed through her first round match against Hesston's Brooke Harshberger 6-0, 6-0 before winning a three setter in the championship 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 over Cowley's Anna Buiuakian to claim the top flight crown.
Like Lopez, Paula Coyos saw little competition in her 1st round match in #2 singles. The Argentinian needed under an hour to defeat Dusti Diener of Hesston 6-0, 6-0 to move on to the title match and then took down Daniela Sanz of Barton in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 in the championship tilt to bring home some hardware of her own.
Kellyn Peters earned the Lady Saints a point in #3 singles with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Barbara Codognotto of Barton in the 1st round, but fell in the championship match 6-1, 6-0 to Shali Schoepflin of Cowley to finish as runner-up.
Naomie Bukassa took the court for Seward at #4 singles, playing a grueling first round match against Karli Beck of Barton, eventually falling in the battle 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 to fall to the 3rd place match. In the 3rd place match Bukassa again played well, easily defeating Adrienne Derstine of Hesston 6-0, 6-1 to claim the point for the Lady Saints.
In #5 singles Xochitl Gonzalez dropped her 1st round match 6-0, 6-4 to Kelly Bruner, but bounced back with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Lauren Oesch of Hesston to finish in 3rd place in the bracket.
The only spot that Seward was unable to pick up a point was at #6 where Grace Golden fell to Becca Brining 6-0, 6-0 in her 1st round match and couldn't recover in a 6-4, 6-2 loss to Courtney Wengerd of Hesston to finish 4th.
Doubles action followed much the same story for the Lady Saints who once again saw Lopez and Coyos put on a show at #1. The pair blanked Diener/Herschberger from Hesston 6-0, 6-0 in the 1st round to move onto the title match. In the championships they put a beating on their rivals from Cowley, downing Buiuakin/Forneiron 6-1, 6-1 to each collect their second trophy of the tournament.
In #2 singles Peters and Gonzalez took the hard court for the Lady Saints. They had trouble getting going in their first match, falling 6-1, 6-4 to Codognotto/Beck from Barton, but bounced back with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Derstine/Oesch of Hesston to finish in 3rd place.
Three's were wild in the #3 doubles bracket where Bukassa and Golden brought home a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Brauer/Langer of Barton in their 1st round match. In the championship match they weren't as lucky though, falling 6-0, 6-1 to Schoepflin/Tipton of Cowley to finish as the runners-up.
The Lady Saints finished just above the Barton Cougars in the tournament standings with 17.5 points overall to wrap up 2nd place. Cowley easily took home the team title with 23.5 points while Barton was the third team from the region to qualify for nationals with 16 points. Hesston finished 4th with just 1.5 points overall.
Seward will now prepare for their second straight trip to the NJCAA National Tournament, this go round in Tucson, Arizona on May 4-8.