The shorthanded Barton Community College women’s tennis team ran across a determined Seward County Community College squad Tuesday at Great Bend’s Veteran’s Memorial Park tennis courts, taking an 8-1 thumping to the No. 14 ranked Lady Saints. The loss dropped Barton to 1-3 on the season while Seward County improves to 3-3.
Playing without its No. 1 singles player, Barton took a forfeit in the No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles matches to immediately surrender two matches to the Lady Saints.
The No. 2 doubles tandem of Barbara Codognotto and Karli Beck teamed up for the lone victory of the day getting an 8-5 win over Kellyn Peters and Naomie Bukassa. Kelly Brauer and Stephanie Langer took the courts in the No. 3 doubles dropping a hard fought 8-6(3) match to Seward’s Xochitl Gonzalez and Grace Golden.
After going 1-1 in the competitive doubles matches, it was all Lady Saints in the singles matches. Led by No. 3 nationally ranked Paula Lopez win by default in the top singles match, No. 10 ranked Paula Coyos got her first time on the court easily dispatching Codognotto 6-0, 6-0. Beck fought in the No. 3 singles but was simply overmatched in a 6-1, 6-3 default to Peters. Brauer got three games in the first set with Bukassa but that was all she could manage as Bukassa cruised to the 6-3, 6-0 win in the No. 4 singles.
The matches of the day came in the No. 5 and No. 6 singles matches as Barton took the first sets but fell in the third. Langer took the No. 5 first set 6-3 but lost the next two 6-2 and 10-6 to the Lady Saints’ Gonzalez while Rebecca Brining fell in almost identical fashion in the No. 6 slot as Seward’s Golden won 3-6, 6-3, 10-5.
Barton’s next action will come Saturday, April 4, as the Lady Cougars head to Newton, Kansas, for a 3:00 p.m. duel with Ottawa University.
