OBU Netters Have Strong Collin County Showing

Several of Oklahoma Baptist University's tennis players won early round matches before rain halted the Collin County Fall Tournament Oct. 8.

Jared Haley, in the first flight of men's singles, dusted Daniel Quinones of Temple, 6-0, 6-3, and then lost to Temple's Aiden Fitzgerald, 6-2, 6-0, in the quarterfinals. Steve Bajema lost his first round match to Sergi Martin, 6-3, 6-2, and lost to Tim Armstrong of Dallas Baptist, 8-5, in consolations.

In the second flight, Curtis Schube defeated LeTourneau's Zac Dodson, 6-0, 6-1, but lost in the quarterfinals to Colter Williams of Temple, 6-4, 6-4. Tyson Allard lost in the opening round to Matt Hoover, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), but rebounded with a win over Steven Moore of Austin College, 8-1. His consolation semifinal match was rained out.

In Men's Singles Flight 3, Eric Scroggins advanced to the semifinals with wins over Jim Albright of LeTourneau, 6-0, 6-1, and Omar Saenz of Austin, 6-7 (7-0), 6-2, 10-5. Justin Wesselhoft lost to Jason Kirsch of Collin County in the first round, 6-3, 6-1, and then bounced back for a win over Tyler Bates of Dallas Baptist, 8-2.

In Men's Singles Flight 4, Caleb Potter beat Jonathan Conyers of Texas-Dallas, 6-7 (4-7) 6-4, 10-5, before losing in the quarterfinals to Chris Rupe of Seminole State, 6-4, 6-2.

In Men's Flight 1 Doubles, Bajema and Haley, as well as Allard and Scroggins, bowed out in the quarterfinals. Bajema-Haley beat Tim Armstrong and Kerry Koppa of DBU, 9-8 (8-6), before losing to the unattached team of Ivan Cabballero and Sergi Martin, 8-5. Allard-Scroggins beat Rupe-Anthony Zafris of Seminole State, 9-8 (7-4), but lost to Fitzgerald-White of Temple, 8-1.

Schube-Wesselhoft cruised to the Flight 2 semifinals with 8-0 wins over Joshua Glaser-Colby Nichols of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Jennings-Russell of DBU.

In the women's first flight singles, Kerri McNutt and Lauren White both reached the consolation quarterfinals before the rainout. McNutt lost to Heather Fuller of NCTC, 6-1, 6-1, and had a bye in the first round of consolation. White lost to Iliana Petrova of NCTC and then beat Billie Blocker of Southeastern Oklahoma State, 8-5.

Ashley Jerige won her Flight 2 opener against Austin's Nicole Gutierrez, 6-4, 6-1, before losing in the quarterfinals to Collin County's Monica Barone.

In Flight 3, Kim Daniel lost to Alecia Jenkins of Collin County, 6-0, 6-0, and Sarah Carroll of LeTourneau, 8-2.

In Flight 4, Christa Tjeerdsma and Haley Howard both reached the semifinals. Tjeerdsma stopped Valerie Emmett of AC, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 10-4, and then upset fifth-seed Samantha Clayton of Collin County, 6-3, 5-7, 10-7. Howard topped Kacie Potts of Seminole State, 6-2, 6-1, and Southeastern's Brandie Dixon, 7-5, 6-1.

In first flight doubles, McNutt and White lost to Fuller-Petrova of NCTC, 8-1, before bouncing back for an 8-5 win over April Beaumont and Jenna Newton of Southeastern.

Daniel-Jerige and Howard-Tjeerdsma both lost their only matches of the tournament in No. 2 doubles. Daniel-Jerige lost to Ashley Beaumont and Theresa Northam of Southeastern, 9-7, and Howard-Tjeerdsma lost to Brandie Dixon and Kelly Langford of Southeastern, 8-5.