Lady Saints Jump Into Top Five at NJCAA Nationals
The Seward County Lady Saints climbed one spot to #5 in the NJCAA National Tournament standings on Tuesday, getting a singles win from Tadi Mrewa and a doubles win from Mrewa and partner Madison Hoelting to secure points and push those two onto the semifinals Wednesday.
Seward had four individuals and two doubles pairs in action on Tuesday, beginning with Thalita Rodrigues in #2 singles. 10th ranked Rodrigues began across the net from 11th ranked Julia Sergheeva of State College of Florida in the quarterfinal round. Sergheeva took control right away, handing Rodrigues to the tune of a 6-1 first set win before finishing her off with a clean 6-0 victory to end Rodrigues' tournament run in 5th place.
In #4 singles, Seward's Yennifer Delgado took the court against top seeded and 39th ranked Mingxiu Du of ASA Miami. Delgado never got her feet under her against the tourney favorite, failing to win a game in the two sets as she fell 6-0, 6-0 to finish in 5th place.
In a rematch of the Region VI Championship match, Nthabi Mogopodi took on Bruna Chaves of Cowley in the #5 singles quarters. Mogopodi had a chance in the first, falling 7-6 (3) in a tiebreak, but Chaves dominated the second at 6-2 to take home the win for the Tigers and stick Mogopodi with a 5th place finish.
Seward's lone singles win of the day came at #6 where Tadi Mrewa represented the Lady Saints. Mrewa was dominate in the first set as she took on Collin's Sierra Chapman, winning 6-0 before hanging on for a 6-4 win in the second to advance to Wednesday's semifinal match against Mikala Lowrance of ASA.
In doubles play Rodrigues and Mogopodi teamed in #2 action to take on Detlava/Yatsenko of Saint Petersburg in the quarterfinals. A highly contested match throughout, Detlava & Yatsenko eventually outlasted the Lady Saints pair, topping them 6-4, 6-4 to end their tournament in 5th place.
In #3 doubles, it was Mrewa teaming up with Madison Hoelting for quarterfinal play. Mrewa/Hoelting opposed Region VI rivals Chaves/Tipton of Cowley in another Region VI Title rematch. Good news for the Lady Saints, Tuesday's dual went just as last week's title match did, in favor of Mrewa/Hoelting who dominated the first 6-0 before gutting out a 7-5 win in the second to find their way to the Final Four where they will battle Pratt/Roller of ASA Wednesday afternoon.
Seward moves up a spot to #5 in the team standings with the two wins where they coincidentally find themselves tied with Cowley with 26 points. ASA Miami and Tyler continue to lead the way, both undefeated with 36 points after three days of competition.