Northwest men lose battle of region powers

A battle of the top two men's tennis teams in the Central Region saw Quachita Baptist sneak out a 5-4 win over Northwest Missouri State Saturday at the Cooper Indoor Tennis Complex Saturday.

In doubles play every match came down to the wire as the Bearcats trailed 2-1 picking up their only win at No. 3 doubles. Alvaro Riveros and Dylan Bernatzky earned the first point for Northwest with the 8-3 victory.

Both of the Bearcats' losses were tight as Luis Altimires and Sergio De Vilchez fell 9-8 (8-2) at No. 1 doubles, while Rafael Bugiga and Narducci Guilherme lost 8-4 at No. 2 doubles.

Singles action came down to the final match as the Bearcats picked up quick wins at the No. 5 and No. 6 positions. Alvaro Riveros knocked off Teodor Anghel 6-0, 6-3 before Jason Harris finished off Leon Ferran, 6-3, 6-4.

Ouachita Baptist earned wins at No. 2 and No. 3 singles when Rafael Bugiga fell 7-6, 6-1 and Luis Altimires dropped a close match, 6-3, 6-1.

The Bearcats turned to their No. 1 singles position in a match of nationally ranked singles players. Sergio De Vilchez and Marko Boskovic battled a close match that saw Boskovic earn the point for the Tigers, 7-6, 6-2.

However, in the final match it was Vitor Oliverira earning a 6-4 win against Guilherme Narducci helping OBU pick up the 5-4 win.

Women

The Northwest Missouri State women's tennis narrowly missed a sweep Saturday as they shutout Arkansas Tech 5-0 before Drury rallied to beat the Bearcats 6-3 in the nightcap.

The Bearcats started the day in almost perfect fashion. Northwest raced out to a 3-0 lead in doubles and picked up two more quick wins at No. 2 and No. 3 singles for a 5-0 win over the Golden Suns.

The 22nd-ranked doubles team of Alexis Bartek and Camila Quesada picked up an 8-3 win and was followed by the duo of Gisela Font and Natalia Galindo who also earned an 8-3 victory.

In singles action it was Natalia Galindo and Bartek that closed out the match. Galindo knocked off Aida Castany at No. 2 singles, while Bartek was a 6-3, 6-0 winner over Camila Roca at the No. 3 position.

In Saturday's night cap the Bearcat women fought to the end, but it was 22nd-ranked Drury that proved to be too much taking a 6-3 win.

Northwest earned a 2-0 advantage with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles and looked in command. Alexis Bartek and Camila Quesada defeated Beatriz Juan and Stefanie Monsch, 8-2 while Stephanie Mannix and Emily Hoffman picked up a 9-8 win.

Mannix earned the lone singles win for the Bearcats defeating Chanel Deschamps, 6-0, 6-4.

The Lady Panther s captured the necessary three wins to end the match including one of the closest at No. 1 singles. Quesada battled Juan to the end before falling 4-6, 6-4, 7-6.

Northwest opens its home season next Friday against regional foe Southeastern Oklahoma before a Saturday meeting with Missouri-St. Louis. Both matches are slated to start at 3 p.m. from the Frank Grube Tennis Courts.