Lady Tiger tennis returns veteran group

With eight sophomores on the roster, the Cowley College women's tennis team hopes its experience will help the squad achieve great things during the 2021 season.

"We return a really talented group that are highly ranked in singles and doubles," Cowley head coach Manuel Raga said.

Ane Ibarra, Andrea Rodriguez Oria, and Laura Quezada highlight the list of returners. Ibarra finished her freshman season ranked No. 14 nationally in singles and No. 11 in doubles with Laura Quezad, who is ranked in the top 10 in singles entering the 2021 season.

Rodriguez Oria started the 2019-2020 school year winning the ITA Regional Doubles Championship and earned a trip to the ITA CUP with her partner Takalani Molaoa. The returning Region VI doubles champion is looking forward to another stellar year in doubles as she finished her freshman season ranked No. 6 in the nation.

"All three will be key in leading the way for the freshmen," Raga said.

Other sophomores on the team are, Brailey DeLao, Chloe Do Lago, Vera Hoekstra, Arianna Lumanog, and Valentina Rodriguez.

Freshmen Isid Hernandez from Cuba and Leah Rebreyend from France will be expected to make immediate impacts on the squad.

"Those two with the returning sophomores should make us a top team this year," Raga said.

Marissa Teter from Deer Creek High School in Oklahoma rounds out the freshman on the squad.

The Lady Tigers will play a challenging schedule made up of NCAA Division I and II teams as well as NAIA and junior college squads.

"We wanted to put together a difficult schedule in order to challenge ourselves and help us get ready for the competition we will see at the national championships," Raga said.

Cowley is currently ranked No. 1 in the region and No. 5 in the NJCAA Division 1 rankings.

"If we do the work we need to things should fall into place," Raga said. "I think we can be a top-three team at nationals if we put all the pieces together."