The No. 9 ranked Barton Community College women’s tennis team closed out its home slate Tuesday afternoon with an 8-1 setback to No. 2 Cowley College at the Shannon Schartz Tennis Courts in a battle of undefeated conference opponents.
Barton faced an early deficit against a pair of nationally ranked doubles opponents, forcing the Cougars into chase mode against four ranked individuals the remainder of the dual. Despite the uphill climb, Barton found a bright spot in singles competition, earning a hard-fought victory in the No. 3 position over the No. 10 ranked player to account for its lone point of the afternoon.
Cowley set the tone in doubles action, beginning at No. 1 where Barton’s pairing of Vitoria Campigotto and Danira Ndengoue battled but were edged 8-6 by Cowley’s nationally second-ranked duo of Cynthia Wanjala and Naghely Garcia Galian. In the No. 2 slot, Grace Tchamoussa and Jamie Petrova also competed tightly but fell by the same 8-6 score to Sofia Karlua and Nathanielle Lee. Rounding out tandem play, the Tigers’ No. 7 nationally ranked team of Chiho Takada and Lisa Takamura proved too much for Salalee Seejong and Lauren Barker in an 8-1 decision to complete the sweep.
The Tigers carried that momentum into singles, claiming five of the six matches in straight sets. At No. 1, No. 16 Campigotto dropped a 6-3, 6-4 decision to Karlua, while No. 18 Ndengoue fell 6-1, 6-1 to No. 17 Wanjala in the No. 2 position.
Barton’s lone victory came at No. 3 singles, where Tchamoussa delivered a resilient performance, defeating No. 10 Garcia Galian 6-2 before falling in a second set tiebreak, then regrouping for a 10-6 super tiebreak win.
Elsewhere, Petrova was topped 6-2, 6-2 by No. 32 Takada at No. 4, Seejong dropped a 6-0, 6-2 decision to No. 27 Takamura at No. 5, and Barker fell 6-0, 6-0 to Kendra Arostegui in the No. 6 match.
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.
