Strong Doubles Play Leads Lady Saints to Second Place Finish
The 6th ranked Seward County Lady Saints played arguably their best doubles of the year this weekend at the Seminole State Dual Match Classic, winning seven of nine over three matches to lead them to a second place finish at the tournament, conceding to just top ranked Tyler in the Championship Match in a 2-1 weekend.
The Lady Saints started their weekend against Jayhawk Conference rival Barton in the first round of the tournament. Sticking with their familiar lineup in singles action, the Lady Saints dominated the Cougars for the second time in less than a week. Thalita Rodrigues and Lisa Suzuki took the court at #1 for Seward, winning an 8-5 decision for the Lady Saints first point of the day. Sarah Manseri and Steffany Bermudez cruised to a 8-4 win at #2 and the dynamic duo of Madison Hoelting and Tadi Mrewa finished off the doubles sweep with an 8-1 win at #3 to put Seward up 3-0. Resting Rodrigues and Suzuki for singles play, Seward still had no trouble in finishing off the match against the Cougars as Manseri stepped into the #1 spot for an 8-5 win Bermudez cruised 8-1 at #2 and Mrewa and Hoelting both posted shutouts at #5 and #6 to finish off a 7-2 win for Seward.
#6 SEWARD COUNTY/#17 BARTON BOX SCORE
The competition ramped up for the Lady Saints in their second match of the day as they squared off against #9 Seminole State. Again it was a strong start in doubles that got Seward going. Rodrigues and Suzuki willed their way to a 9-8 win over 6th ranked Victoria Seifert and Celine Masserreu to get Seward going and Manseri and Bermudez took an 8-5 battle at #2 to put the Lady Saints up 2-0. Hoelting and Mrewa finished off a clean sweep for the Lady Saints in doubles at #3 with an 8-4 win as Seward took a 3-0 lead to singles. The Trojans stormed back, winning at each of the top four singles spots to take a 4-3 lead on the Lady Saints, but it was Martina Borges and Mrewa to the rescue at the bottom of the lineup, winning close at #5 and #6 to clinch a 5-4 win for Seward.
#6 SEWARD COUNTY/#9 SEMINOLE STATE
The win over Seminole gave the Lady Saints a shot at the tournament title, but they had a mountain in front of them to get that title as they took on #1 Tyler. Again the Lady Saints jumped out ahead with a doubles victory at #2 behind Manseri and Bermudez, but the Apaches took the points at #1 and #3 to take a 2-1 lead after pairs play. Rodrigues earned her most impressive win of the season at #1 singles as she hammered 4th ranked Jasmine Asghar 6-2, 6-3 to even things up, but Tyler dominated the other singles spots with wins at #3, #4, and #5 to pick up the needed five points for the 5-2 win.
#6 SEWARD COUNTY/#1 TYLER BOX SCORE
The Lady Saints see their eight match win streak end in the title match, but still improve to 14-5 with the two win weekend.
Seward will be back at it this weekend when they take on a pair of Division II foes in Midwestern State and Cameron Friday and Saturday on the road.