by Doug Page
SUMTER, S.C. – A 6-4, 7-5 win at the No. 6 position of singles competition from sophomore Ermanno Galimberti capped a 5-3 upset of the University of Mount Olive on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Conference Carolinas Men's Tennis Championship in Sumter, S.C.
Barton (7-12) took a 3-0 lead following doubles play but would see the Trojans trim the advantage to 3-2 early in singles play. Mount Olive (13-7) entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed and rallied to cut the BC lead to 4-3 in the match with a win at the No. 5 position before ultimately falling to the Bulldogs.
Sophomore Rory Gaydon and junior Jesus Gil paired together to give Barton a 1-0 lead in the match at the No. 2 position of doubles competition, handing Martin Moser and Jose Cortijos an 8-6 defeat. Galimberti and freshman Martijn Eleveld upped the BC edge to 2-0 with an 8-4 victory at the No. 3 position against UMO's Pablo Ferrer and Jacob Clarke.
The big battle would come at the top doubles flight as freshman Oscar Marmestedt and freshman Diego Agudelo were tasked with knocking off the Trojan duo of Armando Ferreira and Jack Middleton. The Barton duo would outlast the UMO tandem 8-7 (8-6) to give the Bulldogs a huge 3-0 lead at the completion of doubles play.
Mount Olive rallied back into the match with a pair of wins at the top two singles flights. Moser bested Marmestedt 6-1, 6-2 at the No. 2 position, while Ferreira defeated Gaydon 6-1, 6-2 to trim the deficit to 3-2.
Gil ended the UMO run by tallying a 6-4, 6-3 win for Barton at the No. 4 position against Middleton. Ferrer followed for the Trojans with a victory at the No. 5 position to cut the Barton lead to 4-3. After winning the opening set 6-4, Galimberti tallied a 7-5 win against Sherzod Akramov to secure an upset along with a 5-3 victory in the match for the Bulldogs.
Barton will face the No. 3 seed Chowan University Hawks on Saturday at 12 p.m. at the Palmetto Tennis Center. The winner between Barton and Chowan will face the winner of Belmont Abbey College/Limestone College for the Conference Carolinas Men's Tennis Championship.
