by Kevin Buczek
SUMTER, S.C.-Junior Francesca Del Pozo was the C Singles bracket runner-up after winning her first four matches of the season as the Barton College women's tennis team won a total of 14 matches in the 2012 Conference Carolinas Fall Individual Tournament this past weekend at the Sumter Palmetto Tennis Center.
Del Pozo started her run at the C bracket title with straight-set wins over players from King College, Belmont Abbey College and Coker College. Del Pozo then advanced to the finals with a 6-0, 6-0 sweep of junior teammate Taylor Futrell before losing the title bout 6-3, 6-4. The Lima, Peru, native was 4-1 in the three-day event.
Futrell met Del Pozo in the semis after picking up wins over opposition from Coker, King, and Queens University of Charlotte. Futrell started her year with a 3-1 record.
A third Barton junior in Kristy Lievense competed in the C Singles bracket. Lievense lost her first trip to the court but bounced back with three consecutive wins. Lievense started her run with a win against a foe from Pfeiffer University before advancing to the consolation finals by eliminating two Belmont Abbey Crusaders. Lievense lost the finals fight in straight sets to the top seed in the C bracket.
Freshman Smiljana Kljajic made her collegiate debut for the Lady Bulldogs in the A Singles bracket and was able to pick up her first collegiate win in her second match before bowing out of competition due to injury. Kljajic was 1-2.
Senior Lindsey Frederick lost both of her contests in the marquee bracket including a loss to the fourth seed in consolation play.
Junior Caroline Fischer highlighted play for a trio of Lady Bulldogs in the B Singles bracket with a win in her first match. Fischer flirted with advancing to the quarterfinals but eventually lost in a three set marathon (6-7, 7-6, 6-1).
BC sophomores Meredith Pruden and Alicia Lasry were both denied wins in their first singles competitions of the year going 0-2. However, Lasry and Pruden provided the Lady Bulldogs with their most success in doubles play advancing to the finals of the B Doubles bracket. Pruden-Lasry earned a spot in the finals with wins against pairs from Belmont Abbey and Mount Olive College before dropping the championship match, 8-5, to the top seeded duo from Queens.
Barton women's tennis will begin dual play in its 2012-13 home opener against William Peace University on Friday, September 21 at 4 p.m.
