by Kevin Buczek
WILSON, N.C.-A Bulldog injury after doubles play helped Limestone College stay undefeated in Conference Carolinas action with a 9-0 sweep of Barton College on Saturday afternoon at the Barton Tennis Complex.
The Saints improved to 10-6 overall and remained one of three unbeaten teams in league play at 4-0. The Bulldogs have lost five of their last six matches to dip to 4-7 overall and 2-5 in the conference.
Limestone constructed a 3-0 lead after doubles that featured a 8-0 win by the top doubles pair of Carlos Yanes and Rafael Ferla over sophomore Max Leppert and freshman Rafael Ruiz Velasco. Yanes-Ferla, who are ranked third in the current ITA Southeast Region doubles poll, moved to a perfect 16-0 on the season.
Leppert (6-4), who won the Bulldogs only point in Wednesday's 8-1 road loss to No. 50 nationally ranked Mount Olive College, was unable to continue after doubles due to injury forcing Barton to shift four players up in the lineup and forfeiting the bottom singles match.
Sophomore Jorge Pradilla, freshman Nick Genest, freshman Daniel Radu and freshman Mihnea Tomos all moved up to No. 2 thru No. 5, respectively, in the lineup for the first time this season. The Saints won all four of those matches in straight sets with Genest proving to be the biggest threat winning seven games before losing 7-5, 6-2.
Velasco played atop the Bulldogs singles roster for a fourth consecutive match and battled hard before falling to Yanes, the reigning Conference Carolinas Player of the Year. Yanes (12-4) knocked off Velasco 6-3, 7-5.
Barton will try and get back on track with a non-conference match at Southeast Region foe Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, N.C., on Wednesday, March 27 at 2:30 p.m.
