by Doug Page
MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – An 8-1 victory over rival the University of Mount Olive propelled the Barton College women's tennis team to its third-straight Conference Carolinas victory on Tuesday.
Barton (8-8, 4-1) swept through doubles competition against the Trojans as BC evened its overall record on the season. Mount Olive (4-11, 3-4) tallied its lone victory of the day in singles competition at the No. 6 position as Julissa Quintanilla recorded an 8-5 decision.
Freshman Claudia Capellades and junior Whitney Hamilton would give BC a 1-0 lead in the match as the duo recorded an 8-1 victory against UMO's Emma Burroughs and Quintanilla at the No. 3 position.
At the top doubles pairing, junior Daria Avram and sophomore Marissa Stevenson helped Barton to a 2-0 advantage by handing Alex Goffin and Areej Fareh an 8-6 defeat. Junior Vanessa Sanoja and freshman Ada Vargas would send the Bulldogs into singles play with a 3-0 edge in the match with an 8-7 (7-5) win against Mount Olive's Nicole La Chappelle and Jennifer Byrd at the No. 2 position.
Stevenson tallied the first point in the singles competition for BC as she handed La Chappelle a 6-4, 6-1 loss at the No. 3 position. With the win, Stevenson has won seven-straight singles matches including five consecutive in league play. Avram would quickly follow for the Bulldogs with a 6-4, 6-1 victory of her own at the No. 1 position. Barton would take a 6-0 lead in the match as Capellades notched a 6-1, 6-2 victory against Burroughs at the No. 5 position.
After Mount Olive trimmed the Barton lead to 6-1 with a win at the No. 6 position, BC responded with a victory at the No. 4 spot as Vargas defeated Byrd 8-5. BC also tallied a point by default at the No. 2 position as Sanoja defeated Fareh.
Barton returns home to host Chowan University on Thursday at the BC Tennis Complex. The matchup is slated to start at 3 p.m.
