Tiger tennis players qualify for ITA Cup in Rome, Georgia

Hosting the four-team ITA Regional Championship September 24-26 in Arkansas City, the Cowley College men and women's tennis teams had several strong performances and were led by Tiger men's singles player, Takeshi Taco, and the Lady Tigers' doubles tandem of Isid Hernandez & Ntokozo Zungu.

Taco was the ITA Regional Champion in men's singles, rallying to defeat fellow Tiger teammate Boruch Skierkier in the finals. For his efforts, Taco will compete at the ITA CUP October 14-17 in Rome, GA.

Hernandez and Zungu defeated another Cowley doubles tandem of Camila Neyra and Mariia Koroleva in the finals to advance to play at the ITA Cup. Hernandez was also a finalist in women's singles, while the Tiger men's doubles team of Aymeric Bruno and Taiyo Hirano also played well before losing in the finals.

"We are very proud of how they performed this weekend, they fought hard, played extremely well under pressure, and it was a very exciting tournament," Cowley head coach Manuel Raga said.

The players will now have a couple of weeks to prepare for the ITA Nationals "ITA Cup".

Other teams at the ITA Regional Championship were Seward County, Pratt, and Iowa Central Community College.

The players participating in the ITA Cup are playing not only for an individual national championship, but for a wild card into the ITA-NCAA Division I National Championship.

"The competition will be very tough, but we will be ready to compete against the best players in the nation," Raga said.

The ITA Cup will wrap up the fall slate for the Tiger tennis teams. Cowley men competing in the fall were, Takeshi Taco, Boruch Skierkier, Aymeric Bruno, Taiyo Hirano, Joe Blake, Carlos Castillo, Harry Collins, Gaston Erhardt, Andoni Garmendia, Arthur Hernandes, Victor Peroo, Aditya Roy Chowdhury, and Leandro Zgraggen.

Lady Tigers competing in the fall were, Isid Hernandez, Ntokozo Zungu, Camila Neyra, Mariia Koroleva, Kiley Hale, Valentina Jimenez, Virginia Jimenez, Saara Kunakunova, Alizee Ripolles, and Maria Sosa.