by Benny Benton
FLORENCE, S.C. – The Barton College men's and women's tennis teams both suffered 9-0 defeats to nationally-ranked Francis Marion University programs Friday afternoon at Kassab Courts.
On the men's side, junior Rafael Ruiz Velasco recovered from a 6-0 blanking in the first set of his No. 2 singles match to claim the second set 7-5 and battle through an epic third set before falling 11-9. He and doubles partner Jake McCartney also fought well against the nation's No. 9 ranked doubles tandem of Richard Ashforth and Gavin Davison before losing 8-6.
However, the other Bulldogs lost in straight sets against the Patriots (1-1), ranked No. 29 nationally and No. 7 in the Southeast Region. That included Barton's No. 1, McCartney, who fell 6-3, 6-0 to Ashforth, the nation's No. 17 ranked singles player. The loss dropped the Bulldogs to 1-1 on the year.
The Francis Marion women (1-1), ranked No. 24 in the country and No. 3 in the region, overpowered a short-handed Barton team, losing just 13 games in the seven matches played. The Lady Bulldogs (0-2) forfeited No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles after having only five healthy players.
Meredith Pruden, playing No. 3 singles, accounted for most of the games won, as she lost her match 6-4, 6-3 to Mona Piller. Barton's No. 1 doubles duo of Smiljana Kljajic and Alicia Lasry won four games in their match against Julia Graf and Nora Westbye. Kljajic and Lasry each won one game in singles, Kljajic's coming against the nation's No. 37 ranked singles player, Samantha Koelliker.
The two squads will make their home debuts on Monday when they host Shaw University in 3:30 p.m. matches at the Barton Tennis Complex.
