Seward County Tennis Stays in Top 10 of ITA Rankings

LIBERAL, Kan. – The latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings have been released and the Region VI Champions Seward County Saints and Lady Saints are still at the top of the listings.

As a team, the Lady Saints sit at No. 6 in the nation, four spots ahead of fellow Jayhawk Conference foe Cowley (10) and 15 spots ahead of Barton (21).

The Lady Saints have three singles players ranked in the Top 25.  Patricia Panta is the top ranked Lady Saint at No. 10, while Maria Aveiga and Alena Macharova round out the Seward singles rankings at No. 20 and No. 21, respectively.

On the men's side, the Saints stay maintain their No. 3 national ranking that they've held all year, with their only losses coming from No. 1 Tyler and No. 2 ASA Miami. Jayhawk rival Cowley, jumped to No. 4 in the rankings, while Barton is ranked No. 20.

The Saints also have three ranked players, with all three in the top 20, including two top 5 players.  Nicolas Rousset (No. 4) and Duro Opacic (No. 5) hold the top spots for the Saints, while Hugo Lobo jumped from No. 48 all the way up to No. 18.

The Saints also have all three doubles teams ranked.  The team of Lobo and Rousset are the top ranked at No. 4.  Tim Lamare and Opacic come in at No. 13, while Benji Finet and Carlo Izurieta are ranked No. 22.

The Lady Saints will be heading to Waco, Texas to compete in the NJCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship from May 6-11, while the Saints will be heading to  Plano, Texas to compete in the NJCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship from May 14-18.