Barton women’s tennis finishes 15th at National Championship; 2nd straight Top-20 finish

The Barton Community College women's tennis team concluded the 2015-16 season Wednesday knowing it had secured its second straight Top-20 national finish.  When the dust settled in Tyler, Texas, after Thursday's final round of the NJCAA Division I National Tennis Championship the Lady Cougars landed in the 15th slot improving from last year's twentieth final standing.  

Barton finished with 12.5 points being joined by Pima Community College for the 15th position.  Fellow Region VI colleges Seward County Community College and Cowley College finished tied for seventh with 26 points.   ASA College of Miami took the title with its first ever national championship earning 51 points outdistancing host Tyler Junior College's 45 points.

Highlighting the Barton performances from the week was the No. 1 doubles team of Daniela Sanz and Idah Longwe.  The pair capped their five match tournament with four straight wins capturing the championship in the consolation side of the bracket.  Sanz and Longwe began the championship day with an 8-5 victory in the morning semifinals over Hinds Community College's Mariana Alvarez and Rachel Rhett.  Playing the first match in the afternoon session, Sanz and Longwe dominated the championship with an 8-3 win over Madison Currie and Raquel Rodriquez of Jones County Junior College. 

Receiving a first round bye, Sanz and Longwe began their tournament with a hard fought 6-2, 7-5 loss to New Mexico Military Institute's Lorraine Banimataku and Thea Minor.  Bounced to the consolation side of the bracket, the duo rolled past Nikita Hill and Amelie Saint-Dizier of Eastern Arizona College 8-2.  The quarterfinal round didn't come as easy but ended up on the top sided of a 9-7 win over Collin County's Alexandria Gilbert and Taryn Swanepoel, Collin County Community College.

Juliana Seabra was the busy-bee of the tournament reaching the consolation finals of her singles bracket and the semifinals of her doubles match. 

Seabra began her play in the No. 2 singles taking a 6-2, 6-0 loss to Catina Gamo of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.  Due to a couple of byes in the consolation bracket, Seabra was put to the test on Tuesday playing a quarterfinal singles match and a quarterfinals double match before wrapping up her day with a 8-4 semifinal win over the College of DuPage's Shannon McCarthy.   Returning to the court Wednesday for the 8:30 a.m. court time, Seabra came short of the consolation championship hope falling to the tournament's No. 5 seed Anita Detlava of South Plains College.

Seabra and No. 2 doubles partner Karli Beck also made a nice run in the tournament after opening their first match with a 6-1, 6-2 loss to Laredo Community College's Eileen Gallegos and Lorena Marruffo.  Getting a couple of byes in the back side of the bracket, the duo planted an 8-3 win over the Harford College duo of Julie Sibbesen and Jamie Tubao in between Seabra's two singles matches.  Hitting the court shortly after Seabra's championship loss, the pair had their season come to an end with an 8-2 loss in the semifinals to Catherine Murphy and Casey O'Toole of State College of Florida.

Aside from Seabra, Baylee Reade made the deepest run in the tournament of the remaining Lady Cougars drawing the benefit of a consolation round bye before ending her freshman season in the quarterfinals.  Reade held a 6-5 advantage eyeing a berth in the semifinals but went scoreless the rest of the way losing 8-6 to Miranda Jackson of Lewis & Clark Community College.

Barton complete results:

No. 1 Singles – Daniela Sanz
1st round – Sanz def. Paige Gibson, Meridian, 6-0, 6-0
Round of 16 – (2) Macarena Oliveras, ASA, def. Sanz, 6-0, 6-0

No. 2 Singles – Juliana Seabra
1st round – Catina Gamo, ABCA, def. Seabra, 6-2, 6-0
Consolation 2nd round – Seabra received a bye
Consolation Quarterfinals – Seabra def. Nakita Hill, Eastern Arizona, 8-7 (5)
Consolation Semifinals – Seabra def. Shannon McCarthy, DuPage, 8-4
Consolation Finals – (5) Anita Detlava, SPC, def. Seabra, 8-0

No. 3 Singles – Idah Longwe
1st round – Longwe def. Agustina Grimolizzi, NCTC, 6-3, 7-5
Round of 16 – (3) Kakoro Chishaki, SPC, def. Longwe, 6-4, 6-2

No. 4 Singles – Karli Beck
1st round – Beck def. Mary Neely Meyers, Hinds, 7-6(5), 6-4
Round of 16 – (6) Mariya Yatsenko, SPC, def. Beck, 6-1, 6-0

No. 5 Singles – Baylee Reade
1st round – Amanda Hawkins, New Mexico Military, def. Reade, 6-4, 6-3
Consolation second round – Reade received a bye
Consolation Quarterfinals –Miranda Jackson, Lewis & Clark, def. Reade, 8-6

No. 6 Singles – McKenna Hammeke
1st round – Sierra Chapman, Collin County, def. Hammeke, 6-1, 6-1
Consolation second round – Taylor Miller, Meridan, def. Hammeke, 8-0

No. 1 Doubles – Daniela Sanz and Idah Longwe
1st round – Sanz/Longwe received a bye
Round of 16 – Lorraine Banimataku/Thea Minor, New Mexico Military def. Sanz/Longwe, 6-2, 7-5
Consolation second round – Sanz/Longwe def. Nikita Hill/Amelie Saint-Dizier, Eastern Arizona, 8-2
Consolation Quarterfinals - Sanz/Longwe def. Alexandria Gilbert/Taryn Swanepoel, Collin County, 9-7
Consolation Semifinals – Sanz/Longwe def. Mariana Alvarez/Rachel Rhett, Hinds, 8-5
Consolation Finals – Sanz/Longwe def. Madison Currie/Raquel Rodriguez, Jones County, 8-3

No. 2 Doubles – Julianna Seabra and Karli Beck
1st round – Eileen Gallegos/Lorena Marruffo, Laredo, def. Seabra/Beck, 6-1, 6-2
Consolation second round – Seabra/Beck received a bye
Consolation Quarterfinals – Seabra/Beck def. Julie Sibbesen/Jamie Tubao, Harford, 8-3
Consolation Semifinals –Catherine Murphy/Casey O'Toole, SCF, def. Seabra/Beck, 8-2

No. 3 Doubles – Baylee Reade/McKenna Hammeke
1st round – Hammeke/Reade def. Miranda Jackson/Molly Stumpf, Lewis & Clark, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(6)
Round of 16 – (4) Madison Hoelting/Tadiwanashe Mrewa, Seward, def. Hammeke/Reade, 6-1, 6-1

Complete NJCAA Division I National Tennis Championship information found here