by Doug Page
WILSON, N.C. – The Barton College Bulldogs welcomed in nationally ranked No. 34 Limestone College on Friday as the Saints recorded a 6-3 victory against BC in Conference Carolinas men's tennis action at the BC Tennis Complex.
Barton (3-8, 1-2) fell into a 3-0 hole following doubles competition but would try to rally in singles play as the Bulldogs were victorious at the No. 5, No. 2, and No. 3 position. Limestone (7-3, 4-0) won its sixth-straight match on Friday and got a victory from Luka Stanec at the No. 4 spot.
Stanec and Domantas Sadauskas would give Limestone a 1-0 lead in the match by tallying an 8-2 win at the No. 2 position against Jesus Gil and Diego Agudelo. Sacha Terrizzano and Federico Garnier upped the Saints lead to 2-0 as they notched an 8-4 victory at the top doubles position against Barton's Rory Gaydon and Oscar Marmestedt.
Ermanno Galimberti and Martijn Eleveld tried valiantly to give the Bulldogs a point heading into singles play but would drop a close 8-7 decision against Limestone's Guillermo Ortega and Pierluigi Neri.
In singles play, Limestone quickly upped its lead to 4-0 as Garnier bested Gaydon 6-1, 6-3 at the No. 1 position. Stanec would then clinch the match for the Saints as he handed Alessandro Gerbino a 6-1, 6-3 loss to give Limestone a 5-0 lead.
The Bulldogs would cut into the Limestone lead as Gil recorded the first point of the match for BC with a 6-3, 6-2 win at the No. 5 position. Marmestedt followed by winning a marathon matchup at the No. 2 position against Sadauskas. Marmestedt dropped the opening set but rallied by winning the second set 6-3 and the third set 10-7.
Agudelo tallied the last point of the match for Barton with his 6-3, 6-2 victory against Terrizzano.
The Bulldogs head to Mount Olive, N.C. for a league matchup on April 3 with the University of Mount Olive Trojans. The match is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.
