April
19, 2010
Tiger men’s tennis tripped up in quest for region title
Going unbeaten against Region VI schools during the regular season, the
No. 5-ranked Cowley College men’s tennis team appeared to be
the favorite heading into the Region VI Tennis Tournament played Friday
and Saturday at Wichita’s Riverside Tennis Courts. However, Johnson
County swept the doubles titles en route to capturing the Region VI
title by four points over the Tigers.
“We had been the best team in the region all year long, so it is disappointing
we couldn’t finish the matches we needed to in order to win the title,” Cowley
head coach Josh Cobble said. “Johnson County played a real solid tournament
all weekend long.”
Cowley got region titles from Lloyd Bruce-Burgess at No. 1 singles, Roger
White at No. 3 singles, and Alex Dickson at No. 6 singles. But, it was
not enough as Johnson County won three singles and three doubles titles
to slip past the Tigers 24-20 in points.
Despite not winning the Region VI title, Cowley still earned a shot to
compete at the NJCAA National Tennis Tournament, which will be held May
10-14 in Plano, Texas.
“We hope to finish off the year on a better note at the national tournament,” Cobble
said.
The Tigers suffered a three-set loss in the championship match of No.
5 singles and No. 3 doubles. In the no. 3 doubles match, Roger White
and Alex Dickson came back from losing the first set 6-7, to win the
second set 7-6. The third set was back and forth before Johnson County’s
John Burbano/Tim Akhmedov pulled out the 6-4 win.
“Roger and Alex have done a great job all year long and put us in a position
to fight for the (region) title,” Cobble said.
With the top-three teams at the Region VI Tournament qualifying for nationals,
Seward County will also travel to Plano, Texas as they finished third
with 13 points.
Results:
DOUBLES
- No. 1 — Lloyd Bruce-Burgess/Joan Valls (CC) defeated Lobo/Nelms
6-3, 6-3 in third place match.
- No. 2 — Felipe Pimenta/Renato Mendes (CC) lost to Niklas Sparr/Nelson
Ginape (Johnson) 1-6, 6-7 in the championship match.
- No. 3 — Roger White/Alex Dickson (CC) lost to John Burbano/Tim
Akhmedov (Johnson) 6-7, 7-6, 4-6.
SINGLES
- No. 1 — Bruce-Burgess (CC) defeated Evan Sanna (Johnson)
6-2, 6-2 in the championship match.
- No. 2 — Valls (CC) lost to Sparr (Johnson) 1-6, 4-6 in the
championship match.
- No. 3 — White (CC) defeated Luka Radulovic (Johnson) 6-4,
5-7, 6-2 in the championship match.
- No. 4 — Pimenta (CC) defeated Mattar (Barton) 6-2, injury
default in third place match.
- No. 5 — Mendes (CC) lost to Burbano (Johnson) 4-6, 6-3, 3-6
in the championship match.
- No. 6 — Dickson (CC) defeated Akhmedov (Johnson) 6-2, 6-3
in the championship match.
Team scores: (1) Johnson County, 24; (2) Cowley, 20; (3) Seward County,
13; (4) Barton County, 10.5.
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