by Doug Page
WILSON, N.C. – There would be several tightly contested games between Barton College and Francis Marion University on Wednesday as the Patriots recorded a 7-2 victory against the Bulldogs in a non-conference men's tennis matchup.
Barton (0-4) entered the match ranked 10th in the Southeast Region and would send four of its six singles matches to a third set against the Patriots. Francis Marion (4-5) entered as the No. 9 team in the Southeast Region and would take a 3-0 lead heading into singles play against the Bulldogs.
The Patriots sweep through doubles action as William Anth-Forsberg and Charles Hutchings recorded an 8-4 victory against Barton's Jesus Gil and Diego Agudelo at the No. 1 position. The Duo of Mauricio Guerrero and Matheo Espinoza would defeat BC's Rory Gaydon and Oscar Marmestedt 8-5 at the No. 2 spot, while Hugh Ryder and Martijn Eleveld fell 8-3 in the No. 3 spot to FMU's Paul Meuwissen and Matt Astell.
In the singles portion of the match, Francis Marion opened its lead to 6-0 against the Bulldogs after victories at each of the top-three positions. Playing at the No. 1 position, Gaydon, a sophomore fell in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 against FMU's Anth-Forsberg. Junior Jesus Gil also dropped a 6-3, 6-4 decision for Barton at the No. 2 spot against Guerrero. Marmestedt, a freshman for the Bulldogs battled at the No. 3 spot and rallied for a 6-4 win in the second set after dropping the first set 6-4 to Francis Marion's Astell. Astell would secure the victory with a 10-3 outcome in the third set.
Freshman Alessandro Gerbino tallied BC's first point of the match with a win at the No. 5 position against Hutchings. Gerbino dropped the opening set 7-5 before rallying for a 7-6 (6) win in the second set and a 10-8 victory in the third set. Agudelo closed the match with a second consecutive victory for the Bulldogs as the freshman won the opening set 6-4 before falling in the second set 6-4. Agudelo outlasted his counterpart, 10-8 to give Barton its second point of the match.
The Bulldogs hit the road for a pair of matches against Shaw and Bluefield State before hosting Mercyhurst on Mar. 8 at 2 p.m.
