by Benny Benton
SUMTER, S.C. – The Barton College men's tennis team rallied from deficits of 2-1 after doubles play and 4-3 late in singles competition to defeat King University, 5-4, in the semifinals of the Conference Carolinas Tournament Saturday at Palmetto Tennis Center.
The win puts the Bulldogs (14-6) into the championship match on Sunday at 10 a.m. against No. 1 seed University of Mount Olive, which won its semifinal match against No. 5 seed Limestone, 5-2.
"The guys have us on a good ride right now," Barton head coach Tom Schrecengost said. "We just hope it can continue."
Just one match from elimination, the sixth-seeded Bulldogs used a three-set win by junior Max Leppert, 6-2-, 2-6, 6-1, over Luis Delgado in the No. 3 slot to tie the match at 4-all. That left the outcome of the match in the hands of a pair of all-conference players at No. 2, where Barton sophomore Rafael Ruiz provided the game-winning point by outlasting King senior Rodrigo Avila, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
The win avenged a 6-3 road loss to the Tornado (14-8) in Barton's regular-season finale two weeks ago.
"We weren't real pleased with the way things turned out (in the regular-season against King and first-round opponent North Greenville), but we knew we had a chance to do well if we did the right things," Schrecengost said. "The win over North Greenville gave us a lot of confidence. We met last night and put together a game plan for how we matched up with King, and the guys went out there, trusted that game plan and executed it. I'm very proud of the way they played."
Things didn't start well for the Bulldogs, as their top doubles team of Jake McCartney and Ruiz fell 8-5 to Avila and Leo Brigato, and the No. 2 duo of Jorge Pradilla and Yaxi Pintado also fell, 8-6, to Delgado and Pablo Vidal. Only Barton's No. 3 tandem of Leppert and Nick Genest came out of doubles play with a point, taking an 8-5 decision over Moritz Poswiat and Seth Carelli.
However, Barton quickly evened the match as McCartney, the league's Freshman of the Year, breezed through his No. 1 singles match, 6-2, 6-2, for his 15th win of the year. Almost simultaneously, the Bulldogs gained a point from Daniel Radu, who won at No. 6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-0, and lost one after Pradilla dropped a 6-3, 6-3 decision to Poswiat at No. 5.
King took a 4-3 advantage when Brigato downed Genest in the No. 4 slot, 6-3, 6-4, leaving the Bulldogs on the edge of a trip home. However, Leppert and Ruiz instead sent the Tornado packing with their three-set victories and moved Barton into the tournament finals for the first time since 2007.
"We didn't have a great regular-season record in conference (3-5)," Schrecengost said, "but if you look at what we did, we knew we were not that far away. We were losing close three-set matches, we were losing to teams 5-4. But these guys can play, and things have a funny way of evening out. Right now, they are."
Schrecengost knows that the finals will present a much bigger challenge, as Mount Olive is 17-1 and ranked No. 28 nationally. But not many people gave his team a chance to get to this point either.
"We have a tall order tomorrow," he said. "We are playing a team that hates us, that is the regular-season champion, and that has lost just one match all year. But our guys have been fighting hard throughout this tournament, and I don't expect anything to be different tomorrow."
