The 6th ranked Barton Community College women's tennis team picked up three victories over ranked opponents this weekend competing in the Collin College Super Bash held in Plano, Texas.
Making the long trip and stepping onto the court Thursday, the Cougars took a 2-1 doubles lead and battled through to gain four singles victories to knock off host 8th ranked Collin College 6-3.
Taking a day of rest in watching the 7th ranked men's team pull out a 5-4 win over NAIA member Texas A&M University Texarkana, the women returned to action on Saturday in registering a pair of 7-2 victories over 13th ranked Meridian Community College and 15th ranked Weatherford College.
Improving to 5-0 on the season, Barton returns to action on Friday at McPherson College (4:00 p.m.) with a Monday, March 6, trip to Southwestern College (1:00 p.m.). The Cougars open the home slate March 17 in the two-day Cougar Classic.
Doubles action produced seven victories on the weekend as both the No. 2 and 3 tandems won all their matches.
In the No. 2 slot, 10th ranked Luciana Braga and Azul Barrios pulled out a Thursday tiebreaker win over Collin then on Saturday dominated Meridian 8-0 before dispatching Weatherford 8-3.
The No. 3 duo of Carmen Lyons and Ana Vasilis won 8-5 over Collin before chalking up the second Cougar 8-0 blanking against Meridian to wrap up their weekend due to Weatherford unable to fill a 3rd slot tandem.
The lone losses in doubles play came at the always tough No. 1 as 10th ranked Clara Penido and Tshegofatso Tsiang dropped an 8-5 loss to Colin followed by an 8-2 defeat against Meridian, rebounding with a 7-3 tiebreaker win over Weatherford.
In singles play, Vasilis was the lone victor in each of her matches, rebounding from 6-3 setback to Collin's Margaryta Bugaienko to even the match with a 6-0 score then taking the tiebreaker 10-5. The No. 6 slot player blanked Meridian in straight sets on Saturday but didn't play her final match due to Weatherford's lacking of the last two spots on the singles matches. Doubles partner Lyons went 1-1 in her No. 5 singles matches, dropping a 6-2, 6-1 loss Thursday to Collin before nearly blanking Meridian by 6-0, 6-1 scores.
At the top of the lineup, 12th ranked Penido went 2-1 beginning with a marathon 4-6, 7-6 (1), 12-10 victory over 15th ranked Larissa Correa of Collin. Penido's Saturday match against Meridian also went to tiebreak, dropping the first set 6-1, winning the second 7-5, but falling 11-9 in the breaker to spoil the upset over 5th ranked Ana De Mata. Penido capped the weekend with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Weatherford.
Three other Cougars join Penido in the national rankings released last November with each of them going 2-1.
20th ranked Braga dropped her first No. 2 match in a tough pair of sets against Collin as 35th ranked Viktoriia Federova won 7-2 in the first set tiebreaker before concluding the match with a 6-3 win. Braga chalked up twin 6-3 wins over Meridian on Saturday before dispelling Weatherford 6-1, 6-3.
In the No. 3 singles, Tsiang gave the Cougars a 2-1 edge in tiebreakers versus Collin, trading 6-4 scores before prevailing 10-8. Dropping just one set versus Meridian, Tsiang was handed her lone defeat in the day's final match by 6-2, 6-4 scores to Weatherford.
Barrios, ranked No. 36 in singles play, also won her first two before dropping a 12-10 tiebreak to Weatherford after forcing extra play with an 8-6 second set breaker in having lost the first set 6-4. Barrios opened weekend play winning the first set 7-4 in the tiebreak over 34th ranked Jhastine Ballado and led 3-1 before the Collin player needed to retire. On Saturday Barrios won by twin 6-0 scores over Meridian before dropping the tiebreak loss.
Complete Results:
vs Collin College
vs Meridian Community College
vs Weatherford College