Sending seven to the Region VI title matches, the 7th ranked Barton Community College men's tennis team finished runner-up Saturday at the two-day Region VI Championships held at Great Bend's Schartz Tennis Courts in Veteran's Memorial Park.
The Cougars accumulated 8 points to finish ahead of 6th ranked Pratt's 5 points to avenge the Beavers' regular season 5-4 win over Barton. Top ranked Cowley College swept all nine events in claiming its second consecutive region crown with short-handed 15th ranked Seward County rounding out the four team region with .5 points.
Cowley earned their title sweeping most of their matches in dominating fashion, the exceptiongs coming in a pair of matchups with the Cougars in being pushed on the scoreboard.
Barnabas Kalaba registered the lone three-set match score against the Tigers, taking the first set 6-4 over Hanamichi Carvajal but the nation's 19th ranked player responded with 6-2, 6-1 set wins for the No. 4 flight victory. Seeded second in the flight, Kalaba had to survive his own three-set threat in Friday's action versus Pratt's Vitor Goncalves, winning the first set 6-3 but dropping the second 3-6 before advancing to the finals with another 6-3 set win.
In the top flight of singles play, 15th ranked Gustavo Campos rolled in Friday's action 6-1, 6-2 over Pratt's 33rd ranked Dante Despontin setting up a Saturday tangle with the nation's top player Takeshi Taco. Falling 8-6 in the first set tiebreak, Campos had serve at 5-5 in the second but Taco held strong in winning the next two games for a 7-5 title sweep.
In the second flight, 41st ranked Sebastiao Vilas won his first match in comeback style, dropping the first set 6-2 to Pratt's 46th ranked Gabriel Cuenca to advance on twin 6-4 set victories before falling to Cowley's 4th ranked Boruch Skierkier 6-0, 6-2.
48th ranked Fernando Andre fell to 6th ranked Bruno Nhavene 6-3, 6-2 in the third flight after advancing past his Friday match against Pratt's David Arrieta on a 3-0 retirement.
Tsholofelo Tsiang made short work in knocking off the No. 5 flight second seeded Alex Ballinger of Pratt but not much went right on Saturday in a 6-1, 6-0 loss to the Tigers' 23rd ranked Reiya Komagata.
In doubles action, it took a pair of 9-7 tiebreak scores for the Cougars' top tandem of 19th ranked Vilas and Andre to advance to the finals in avenging a regular season loss to Pratt's 16th ranked Despontin and Cuenca. The duo would then face the nation's 2nd ranked tandem of Taco and Nhavene on Saturday with the Tigers chalking up 6-1, 6-3 set scores for the title.
The No. 2 pairing of Kalaba and Tsiang also avenged its regular season loss to Pratt, dispatching Arrieta and Iveli 6-4, 6-1 in Friday's action before falling to the Tiger's 21st ranked Carvajal and Taiyo Hirano 6-1, 6-3.
Campos and Marno Du Plessis' bid to also avenge its loss to Pratt earlier in the season came up short 6-3, 6-0 in the No. 3 doubles match-up.
In the No. 6 singles match, Du Plessis and Pratt's Iveli battled into three sets of action, Iveli winning the first 7-5 with Du Plessis taking the second 6-3 before the Beaver advanced to the finals with a 7-4 tiebreak victory.
Du Plessis, along with his doubles teaming with Campos, finished third in singles and doubles in lieu of Seward County only having two competitors.
Barton now has two weeks for final adjustments and tune-ups in preparation for the NJCAA Division I National Tournament in McKinney, Texas, held May 15-19.
Complete Region VI Tournament results