by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C. – The Barton College men's tennis team rolled to its sixth straight victory on Saturday at the Barton Tennis Complex with a 9-0 shutout of visiting Emmanuel College.
The win was the fifth in a row in Conference Carolinas play for the Bulldogs, and gave the program seven league victories in a season for the first time since 2006. Barton is now 7-1 in the conference and 11-4 overall.
Barton received doubles wins from the teams of Jake McCartney and Rafael Ruiz Velasco (8-2 at No. 1), Max Leppert and Nick Genest (8-4 at No. 2), and Daniel Radu and Yaxi Pintado (8-2 at No. 3).
Jorge Pradilla played singles in place of Leppert and recorded a 6-0, 7-5 win in the No. 6 slot. Genest, who moved up from No. 4 to No. 3 to fill Leppert's spot, came away with a 6-2, 7-5 victory. McCartney and Ruiz Velasco both won 6-1, 6-1 in the top two slots, while Radu and Pintado both posted shutouts in the No. 4 and No. 5 spots, respectively.
The shutout by Pintado was his sixth of the year, and earned him his 10th straight singles victory. He is now 12-2 for the year, his only losses coming at nationally-ranked Francis Marion and NCAA Division I East Carolina. The sophomore from Madrid, Spain, has also won seven in a row and nine of his last 10 in doubles.
Radu has won six straight in both singles and doubles, and is 9-1 in his last 10 on the singles side. McCartney has won five in a row in singles and 10 of his last 11. Genest is 5-1 in his last six singles starts and is 10-3 for the year in doubles. Ruiz Velasco is 8-2 in his last 10 singles matches, while Leppert is 8-2 in his last 10 in doubles.
All those streaks will be challenged in Barton's next match, as the Bulldogs travel to rival University of Mount Olive on Tuesday to take on the nationally-ranked No. 32 Trojans. The defending regular season and tournament champions are unbeaten in the league at 9-0 and are 14-3 overall.
BARTON 9, EMMANUEL 0
Singles
1. Jake McCartney (BARTON) def. Louis Malejka (EC-M) 6-1, 6-1
2. Rafael Ruiz Velasco (BARTON) def. Joaquin Marshall (EC-M) 6-1, 6-1
3. Nick Genest (BARTON) def. David Forehand (EC-M) 6-2, 7-5
4. Daniel Radu (BARTON) def. Ben Strickland (EC-M) 6-0, 6-0
5. Yaxi Pintado (BARTON) def. Austin Spivey (EC-M) 6-0, 6-0
6. Jorge Pradilla (BARTON) def. Tyler Terrell (EC-M) 6-0, 7-5
Doubles
1. Jake McCartney/Rafael Ruiz Velasco (BARTON) def. Lucas Vellozo/David Forehand (EC-M) 8-2
2. Max Leppert/Nick Genest (BARTON) def. Louis Malejka/Ben Strickland (EC-M) 8-4
3. Daniel Radu/Yaxi Pintado (BARTON) def. Joaquin Marshall/Tyler Terrell (EC-M) 8-2
Records
Emmanuel 1-15, 1-8
Barton 11-4, 7-1
