The No. 4 ranked Barton Community College men’s tennis team wrapped up its home schedule Tuesday afternoon, dropping a 7-2 decision to No. 5 Cowley College at the Shannon Schartz Tennis Courts.
In a matchup featuring two of the conference’s top programs, Barton showed flashes throughout the lineup, highlighted by a ranked singles victory and a pair of tightly contested battles against nationally ranked opponents in the top positions.
Cowley gained the early edge in doubles play, but not without a fight from the Cougars’ top tandem. At No. 1, Charles Alipoe and Raphael Ankrah pushed Cowley’s No. 18 ranked duo of Haruki Okude and Dan Hosono to the limit before falling in a 9-8(6) tiebreak decision.
The Tigers secured the doubles advantage with an 8-1 win at No. 2 over Santiago Villarroya and Esi Molefe, while Barton’s Armando Sigauque and Kristian Tesevic provided a response at No. 3, earning an 8-6 victory over Guilherme Coelho and Vaughn Smith.
In singles, Barton’s highlight came at the No. 2 position, where Ankrah delivered an impressive straight-set victory, defeating No. 16 Hosono 6-2, 6-1 for the Cougars’ lone singles point.
At the top of the lineup, Alipoe battled No. 4 Okude in one of the day’s most competitive matches, opening with a first-set tiebreak win and forcing a third set before ultimately falling 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-2.
Elsewhere, Villarroya dropped a tight opening set tiebreak before falling 7-6(4), 6-1 to No. 48 Luca Laurindo at No. 3, while Sigauque was forced to retire due to injury in the No. 4 match. Molefe and Tesevic rounded out the lineup with straight-set defeats at No. 5 and No. 6.
Barton now turns its attention to the postseason stretch, beginning with its final regular season tune-up Friday at Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina. The Cougars will then shift focus to the Region 6 Championships, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Pratt.
