Women's tennis team clinches berth to nationals
Issue 15 - 04.27.06

BY DAVID DEJMAL
Staff Writer

The Lady Tiger tennis team placed second behind Johnson County in the Region VI tournament April 21-22, qualifying for a spot at nationals in Arizona.
“It’s going to be interesting to see what we are going to do,” said Coach Brad Louderback.

Hanane Toumi kept her undefeated streak alive by taking the number one singles title. She is currently ranked eighth in the nation. Teammate Samantha Cowan won the number two singles championship and is ranked 24th in the nation. Both Toumi and Cowan defeated opponents from Johnson County in the finals. Katie McKee made it to the championship match in number three singles, where she was defeated by Johnson’s Audrey Sherman. Sophomores Molly Bowman and Gina Pendrak beat Hutchinson’s number four and number five players, respectively, for a pair of third-place finishes. At the sixth spot Ashley Arnold defeated her Johnson County opponent for the region championship.

In doubles action number two Bowman/Pendrak and number three McKee/Skiles finished in third place. Cowan/Toumi lost in the championship match to Johnson County’s number one doubles team. Cowan and Toumi are ranked ninth as a team in the nation.

The Lady Tigers will travel to Tucson, Ariz., May 6-12 for the NJCAA Division II National Tournament.

After beating Barton and Johnson County just a week before the Region VI Tournament, the future looked good for the Tiger men’s tennis team heading into regionals. However, Barton ended up taking home the crown as champions and Seward followed in second place. This left a battle for third between Cowley and Johnson County to be decided by half a point in favor of Johnson County. Only the top three teams advance to nationals.

“It just wasn’t our day,” said sophomore Juan Ramos. “The competition was tough and we just fell short of what we needed.”

Cowley got third-place finishes at number two and number three doubles, and the number one doubles team finished second, losing the championship to Barton.
In singles play Kevin Harper was the lone champion at the number six spot. Number one Julian Rios, number two Nathan Mai, number three Marijn Bal, and number five Ramos all finished third. Number five man Bryan Cross lost in his third-place match to a Johnson County opponent.