by Doug Page
WILSON, N.C. – The Barton College women's tennis team rattled off its fifth consecutive victory on Saturday with a 7-2 win against Southern Wesleyan University at the BC Tennis Complex.
Barton (13-9, 9-2) held onto sole possession of third place in the Conference Carolinas standings with its win. Southern Wesleyan (7-11, 4-7) tallied its points with a win at the No. 2 position of doubles competition and at the No. 1 position of singles play.
Junior Daria Avram and sophomore Marissa Stevenson helped to give Barton a 2-0 lead in the match with an 8-4 victory at the No. 1 doubles position against Alexia Rodriguez and Jennifer Ball. BC took a 1-0 lead by default at the No. 3 position as the Warriors only fielded two doubles pairings.
Southern Wesleyan would avoid the sweep in doubles play as Kristi Cooper and Chyna Jones defeated junior Vanessa Sanoja and freshman Ada Vargas 8-6 at the No. 2 position.
In singles play, the Bulldogs tallied a win by default and two by retirement. Stevenson found herself leading 4-0 in the first set of her match before Ball retired, while Vargas won the opening 6-1 before Jones retired in the second set.
Rodriguez tallied a 6-4, 6-1 win at the No. 1 position against Avram to give the Warriors their second point of the match. Sanoja defeated Cooper 7-5, 7-5 at the No. 3 singles position, while freshman Claudia Capellades was victorious 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 5 position against Jessica Sparks
The Conference Carolinas Men's and Women's Tennis Championships are set to begin on April 20 and run through April 22 at the Palmetto Tennis Center in Sumter, S.C. The top eight teams advance to tournament play. BC will be the second seed in the tournament, while Chowan will be the top seed after finishing 11-0 in league play.
