Carlos Anez picked up the Saints only two wins of the final two days of the tournament Thursday and Friday, taking 6-2, 6-3 decisions in both the consolation semis and finals to win the #1 singles consolation title.
Duro Opacic battled hard against top seeded Jorge Martinez of Tyler at #2 singles, but fell 7-6 in the first and couldn’t regain traction in the second, dropping a 6-2 decision to give him a third place finish in his first National Tournament.
It was a top 20 collision in the #3 semifinal as Seward’s Ondrej Nice took on ASA’s Sascha Modica. Modica breezed to a 6-0 first set win and then took the second 6-3 to hand Nice a third place finish to his Seward County career.
Przemek Zielinski gave it his all in his final match as a Saint at #4 singles, taking Tyler’s Reid Feehan to the wire before eventually falling 6-4, 6-4 to finish third.
At #5 singles ASA’s Kentaro Mizushima was too much for Seward’s Claudio Quinones, taking a 6-1, 6-1 decision in the semifinal round to give Quinones a third place trophy to wrap his freshman campaign with the Saints.
Ngoni Makambwa reached the semifinal round for the second straight year, this time at #6 singles, but again, couldn’t get over the hump, falling 6-1, 6-2 to ASA’s Eric Moonga to collect his second third place finish at the tournament.
Seward’s only doubles team in action Thursday was at #1 where Nice and Anez couldn’t get anything going against ASA Miami, dropping a 6-2, 6-1 final to end the tournament in third place.
The Saints finish in 4th place with 32 points, their best finish in program history at the tournament. ASA Miami won their second straight National Championship with 44 points while Tyler finished second with 43 and Abraham Baldwin earned a third place trophy with 35 points.
<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/mten/2016-17/files/MNJCAA5.pdf>
NJCAA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT RESULTS<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/mten/2016-17/files/MNJCAA5.pdf>
