Liberty University
No. 71 Pacific
Liberty Upsets No. 71 Pacific
3/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
The Liberty Lady Flames tennis squad notched its fourth consecutive win, defeating No. 71 Pacific Tigers in dominating fashion by a score of 5-2, this evening. The Lady Flames improve to 11-2 on the year, while the Tigers fall to 7-4.
Today's victory marked the first time in program history that the Lady Flames have defeated a Top 75 opponent.
To begin the contest, the teams split the first two doubles matches to set up for what would turn out to be an eventful point. Freshman Evangeline Crist and junior Valerie Thong took the first doubles match, defeating Francis Dean and Christiana Ferrari, 6-2, in No. 2 doubles.
The Tigers claimed the next match, as Lady Flames Maria Khval and Brittany Yang fell to Hana Ritterova and Iveta Masarova, 6-2, in No. 1 doubles.
Liberty's sophomore doubles tandem of Mariely Hassey and Emily Groeneveld collected the doubles point for the red and blue. The duo bested Regina Suarez and Antonella Santeusanio, 6-4, from the No. 3 position to put the Lady Flames ahead, 1-0.
After surrendering the doubles point, Pacific tied the match at 1-1 when Ritterova defeated Hassey in straight set from the No. 2 singles slot, 6-2, 6-1.
Nicola Wellman regained the leady for Liberty, a lead that the Lady Flames did not relinquish for the remainder of the match. The Florida native bested Santeusanio in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2 to give Liberty the 2-1 edge over the Tigers.
Khval bounced back from her tough doubles match to cruise past Ferrari in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. With the win, Khval placed Liberty ahead by a score of 3-1, with an upset in mind.
The Lady Flames pulled off the upset when Groeneveld took care of Gergana Boncheva in straight sets from the No. 5 singles position. Boncheva won the first set, 6-3 and carried momentum into the second set to win, 6-4.
With Liberty ahead 4-1 and the match in hand, the two squads split the final two contests. The Tigers took a point from the No. 1 singles position when Masarova defeated Rivera, 7-6, 6-3.
The Lady Flames' final point came from the standout freshman, Crist. The Georgia native notched her 10th singles victory of the season, besting Dean, 6-2, 7-5.
"I am so proud of our girls," stated head coach Jeff Maren. "They played with mental strength against a very solid team. To beat a ranked team you have to believe that you can play at that level. All of our girls believed, and competed hard. We are thankful to God for giving us the gift to play good tennis and represent Liberty well."
Liberty looks to tie its season-high five match winning streak on Thursday when they travel to San Luis Obispo, Calif. to take on the Cal Poly Mustangs. The contest is slated to begin at 5 p.m. ET at the Mustang Tennis Complex.
Liberty 5, Pacific 2
Doubles
- Ritterova/Masarova (PAC) def. Khval/Yang (LU), 6-2
- Crist/Thong (LU) def. Dean/Ferrari (PAC), 6-2
- Hassey/Groeneveld (LU) def. Suarez/Santeusanio (PAC), 6-4
Singles
- Masarova (PAC) def. Rivera (LU), 7-6, 6-3
- Ritterova (PAC) def. Hassey (LU), 6-2, 6-1
- Khval (LU) def. Ferrari (PAC), 6-4, 6-2
- Crist (LU) def. Dean (PAC), 6-2, 7-5
- Groeneveld (LU) def. Boncheva (PAC), 6-3, 6-4
- Wellman (LU) def. Santeusanio (PAC), 6-4, 6-2
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1,3
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
2,6,3,5,1,4