by Doug Page
SUMTER, S.C. – Barton College recorded a 5-0 sweep of the Southern Wesleyan University Warriors in the quarterfinals of the Conference Carolinas Women's Tennis Championship of Friday in Sumter, S.C. The Bulldogs advance to the semifinals on Saturday as BC will face Limestone College.
No. 2 seed Barton (14-9) quickly took a 3-0 lead into singles competition and would complete the sweep of the Warriors with a win at the No. 2 position. No. 7 seed Southern Wesleyan (7-12) faced BC just six days after falling 7-2 against the Bulldogs in its regular-season finale.
The No. 3 doubles tandem of freshman Claudia Capellades and junior Whitney Hamilton gave Barton a 1-0 lead in the match as the pair handed Caitlynn Nixon and Jessica Sparks an 8-3 defeat. BC upped its advantage to 2-0 as junior Daria Avram and sophomore Marissa Stevenson recorded an 8-5 victory at the No. 1 doubles position.
Junior Vanessa Sanoja and freshman Ada Vargas helped to send Barton into singles play with a 3-0 lead as the duo tallied an 8-5 win against SWU's Kristi Cooper and Chyna Jones at the No. 2 position.
Capellades pushed the Barton edge to 4-0 with her 6-0, 6-0 win against Nixon at the No. 5 spot of singles play. Stevenson closed the door on the Warriors by recording a 6-0, 6-0 win of her own for the Bulldogs against Ball at the No. 2 position.
Barton recorded the 5-0 victory over the Warriors as the other four singles matches that were in action would be marked as unfinished.
The quarterfinal round will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning at the Palmetto Tennis Center in Sumter, S.C. The winner between Barton and Limestone will face the winner of Belmont Abbey College/Chowan University for the Conference Carolinas Women's Tennis Championship.
