by Doug Page
BLACKSBURG, VA. – The Barton College Bulldogs swept through doubles action en route to earning a 6-1 victory against the Bluefield State College Big Blues on Wednesday at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center in non-conference women's tennis action.
Barton (3-6) received a pair of 8-0 victories in doubles play from the pairings of junior Vanessa Sanoja and freshman Ada Vargas at the No. 2 position as well as freshman Claudia Capellades and junior Whitney Hamilton at the No. 3 position.
The top tandem for the Bulldogs tallied an 8-3 victory against the Big Blues (0-11) as junior Daria Avram and sophomore Marissa Stevenson bested Milica Knezevic and Sophie Bygrave to give BC a 3-0 lead heading into singles play.
Avram would quickly win her match at the No. 1 spot with a 6-0, 6-0 finish against Bluefield State's Milica Kmjaja. Vargas would be victorious at the No. 4 spot for Barton with a pair of 6-1 victories against Kelsi Browning.
Barton needed three sets to take the No. 3 matchup against the Big Blues as Sanoja dropped the opening set 6-4 against Knezevic but responded by notching 7-5 and 10-6 decision to secure the victory.
Bygrave recorded a victory for Bluefield State at the No. 3 position against Barton's Stevenson. Stevenson rallied to knot the match 1-1 after recording a 6-1 win the second set. Bygrave outlasted Stevenson in the decisive set with a 10-8 score.
Barton returns home to open a three-game homestand starting with Mercyhurst University on Thursday at 2 p.m.
