Torregrosa and Longwe capture Region VI title, Lady Cougar Tennis headed to nationals

The Barton Community College women's tennis team had one entry standing for the final day of the Region VI Championships, coming away with a title to conclude Barton's hosting of the tournament at Veteran's Park here in Great Bend.   The No. 16 ranked Lady Cougar squad finished third in the region placing with six points, 2.5 points behind No. 8 ranked Cowley College, and well behind the No. 6 ranked Lady Saints of Seward County Community College's seventeen points for the title. 

The Lady Saints would have swept all of the nine events had it not been for the Lady Cougar duo of Neus Torregrosa and Idah Longwe knocking off Seward County for the No. 1 doubles title in the final match on Sunday.  Ranked No. 7 as a pair in the latest ITA rankings, Torregrosa and Longwe took the first set 6-2 and were close to sweeping the No. 3 ranked Saints duo of Thalita Rodrigues and Lisa Suzuki before a tie break collapse resulting in a 9-7 loss forced a third set.  From there the Cougars regrouped and dominated the final set winning the first four games enroute to a 6-1 victory for the region title and avenge an 8-5 defeat to the Saints earlier in the season.

Torregrosa and Longwe nearly didn't reach the finals falling behind 5-7 in their opening match on Saturday against Cowley's No. 8 ranked duo of Sarah Frendo and Sara Petric, but the Cougars took identical 6-3 sets to reach the title match.

The duo's Saturday victory was the lone win on the day for the Lady Cougars as the rest of the eight matches came up short leaving the No. 1 pair waving the Barton flag for the final day.

Torregrosa came the closest to reaching the singles title match in the highly competitive No. 1 draw as all three competitors rank in the nation's top ten.  No. 9 ranked Torregrosa and No. 8 ranked Rodrigues slugged it out on Saturday but a late first set collapse left the Barton freshman on the losing end of a 7-4 tie break before succumbing in the second set 6-3.  Rodrigues went on to capture the title with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over top seed and No. 10 ranked Frendo of Cowley.

In doubles play the No. 3 duo of Jenna Groene and Shai Cartmill stayed in the match against Cowley's Barbara Broville and Maria Zimmerman shaking off a 6-2 first set loss to just coming up short in the second 6-4. 

Seward County won eight of the nine events pulling off upsets in the 1, 3, and 5 singles matches to capture their first women's Region VI title.  

All three of the ranked teams will next compete May 7-11 in the NJCAA Division I Women's Championships being held at the Reffkin Tennis Center in Tucson, Arizona.

Complete Region VI Women's Tennis Team standings

Complete Region VI Women's Tennis Individual results