by Kevin Buczek
WILSON, N.C.-Senior Lindsey Frederick and sophomores Alicia Lasry and Meredith Pruden all won in singles and doubles play to lead Barton College women's tennis team to a 7-2 Conference Carolinas victory over North Greenville University on Saturday afternoon at the Barton Tennis Complex.
The Lady Bulldogs move over .500 on the season at 3-2 and start league play at 1-0. The Crusaders head back to Tigerville, S.C., winless with matching 3-0 overall and conference records.
After the two teams split the bottom two doubles matches, Frederick and Lasry rallied to win the top match 9-8 to shift momentum in favor of the hosts. Frederick-Lasry (2-2) trailed in the superset to senior Susane Lenz and freshman Maggie Elliott before fighting back to force a tiebreaker that the Bulldog duo won 8-6.
Barton led 2-1 after doubles. Pruden teamed up with freshman Smiljana Kljajic to win the middle doubles bout 8-6 as the Lady Bulldogs rookie duo improved to 3-1 paired together. Junior Victoria Gomez and sophomore Rebecca Beacham put North Greenville on the board with an 8-5 win. Gomez-Beacham continued to play well in the last doubles slot with a 3-0 doubles ledger.
Lenz held off Kljajic in three sets to win the featured singles match. Lenz' 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win gave NGU its final team point.
Barton was victorious from 2-6 in the lineup to pull away. Lasry (7-5, 6-3) and Frederick (6-3, 6-2) maintained momentum after their nearly two-hour doubles marathon match with straight set wins at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Lasry leads the Lady Bulldogs with a 4-1 singles record. Frederick progressed to 3-2.
Pruden dominated the fourth flight and junior Kristy Lievense controlled the sixth slot with matching 6-2, 6-0 wins. Lievense (3-0) has won three straight dual matches while Pruden (3-2) also registered her third win.
Junior Caroline Fischer showed heart with a come-from-behind victory in three sets over Beacham. Fischer lost the first frame in a tiebreaker before tying the match with a strong second set before completing the conquest with an extended pro-set win. The final score to the seesaw battle was 6-7 (4), 6-1, 10-8.
Barton next plays at Chowan University in a non-conference tilt at 2:30 p.m.
