by Cory Guinn
WILSON, N.C. – The Barton College men's and women's teams both suffered 9-0 defeats to visiting Francis Marion University Tuesday afternoon at the Barton Tennis Complex.
On the men's side, junior Yaxi Pintado rebounded from a 7-5 loss in the first set of his No. 5 singles match to take a 6-3 victory in the second set. The Madrid, Spain native battled through an epic third set super-tiebreaker, eventually falling 10-5.
The No. 1 singles slot was a matchup of regionally ranked individuals as the Southeast region's No. 2 player Richard Ashforth of Francis Marion (2-1) defeated the region's 20th ranked player in Barton's Jake McCartney 6-3, 6-4. Ashforth is also 7th overall nationally by the ITA.
The other Bulldogs also lost in straight sets against the Patriots who are ranked No. 48 nationally.
The Francis Marion women (2-1) lost just 14 games in the nine matches played. Senior Smiljana Kljajic accounted for six of the games won, falling 6-3, 6-3 to Samantha Koelliker at No. 1 singles. Freshman Vanessa Sanoja forced a tiebreaker in the first set, but lost 7-6 (8-6), 6-0 in the No. 2 singles matchup.
Both Bulldog tennis squads will be on the road in their next match as the team's travel to Catawba College on Tuesday, Feb.16 for a contest in Salisbury, N.C.
