Sanz comes up just shy of title, Barton women’s tennis at Central Region Championships

Three members of the Barton County Community College women's tennis team competed in the 2015 USTA/ITA Central Region Championships this past weekend in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  Sophomore Daniela Sanz took second place in singles and teamed up with freshman Juliana Seabra to reach the semifinals in doubles.  Seabra also went on to take the singles consolation championship while fellow freshman Idah Longwe went 2-1 in singles play.  The Lady Cougars continue their fall season with a Saturday, October 3, trip to McPherson, Kansas, competing in the Bulldog Doubles Quad.

Seeded third in the eighteen member singles bracket, Sanz received a first round bye then rolled by Bruna Chaves of Cowley College in the second round 6-1, 6-3.  The semifinal round was a three hour grind as Sanz came out on the top side of 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 match over Seminole State College's Zahra Finnigan.  Advancing to the finals with a berth to the next round of the ITA playoffs in South Carolina on the line, Sanz put up a top fight against another Seminole opponent, top seeded Luisa Varon, falling 4-6, 5-7.

After receiving a first round bye, Seabra lost her second round match 6-0, 6-1 to second seeded Miranda Rodriguez of Seminole.  Seabra bounced back on the consolation side of the bracket disposing Samantha Stafford of Seminole 6-2, 6-4.  In the semifinals Seabra continued to roll along defeating Cowley College's Peyton Adams 6-2, 6-0.  Seabra then captured the consolation final title with a decisive 6-3, 6-0, dismantling of Logyn Williams, for her second straight victory against a Cowley Tiger Region VI foe.

Longwe was the third member of the Lady Cougars to enter the competition getting a first round bye then putting away Seminole's Taylor Factor 6-2, 6-2.  Longwe's tournament would come to end in the next round with a quarterfinal loss to the top-seeded Varon 6-1, 6-0.

In doubles play, Sanz and Seabra began play in the quarterfinals disposing the Seminole duo of Sydney Brummett and Kailey Hamilton 6-1, 7-5.  Seminole would get the ultimate revenge in the semis as the top seeded tandem of Luisa Varon and Miranda Rodriguez Diaz de Leon ended the Cougars' run winning 6-0, 6-2, enroute to the eventual doubles title. 

More regarding the USTA/ITA Central Region Championships can be found here.