Lady Flames Earn Fifth Straight

The Liberty Lady Flames women's tennis team bested James Madison, 5-2, on Saturday afternoon at the Sports Racket. With the win, Liberty extends its winning streak to five matches, continuing the best start in program history at 7-1. With the loss, the Dukes fall to 4-2 on the campaign.

The Lady Flames are now 5-4 all-time against James Madison, having won the last two contests, and five out of the last six.

The event began with James Madison clinching the doubles point thanks to a come-from-behind victory in the No. 2 doubles position.

Liberty's Maria Khval and Brittany Yang teamed up in the No. 1 doubles position to down Rachel Nelson and Taylor Pinchoff, 6-1, for the early advantage for the doubles point.

Alex Huie and Emily Bradshaw bested the Lady Flames' Belen Rivera and Mariely Hassey, 6-1, to even the score back to 1-1.

Despite taking the 4-1 lead in the No. 2 doubles position, Liberty's Evangeline Crist and Valerie Thong surrendered five consecutive games, falling to Sarah Khan and Kimmy Herrock, 6-4.

Rivera evened the score at one apiece after her straight-set victory over Nelson, 6-3, 6-2 from the No. 1 singles position.

With the score knotted at one, Khval put the Lady Flames out front 2-1 from the No. 3 singles position. Khval delivered a straight-set victory, 6-2, 6-3 over Khan to push Liberty ahead of the Dukes.

Yang provided the Lady Flames with some breathing room from the No. 4 singles position. After edging Rebecca Harris, 7-5 in the first set, Yang surrendered a second-set lead to drop the set 7-5. Yang gathered her composure to deliver a third-set victory, winning the set, 6-1, extending the Liberty lead to 3-1.

The Dukes refused to go away, edging one point closer to the Lady Flames. From the No. 2 singles spot, Pinchoff and Hassey fought toe-to-toe before the match was final. Pinchoff won the first set 6-4, before falling in the second set 7-6 (8-6). With the third set going back-and-forth, Pinchoff broke away in the end, besting Hassey 6-4 in the third set to pull James Madison back to within one point.

For the second match in a row, freshman Evangeline Crist clinched the match for the red and blue. Competing from the No. 6 slot, with her team ahead 3-2, Crist ousted Herrock with ease, 6-2, 6-0 to give the Lady Flames the 4-2 advantage, sealing the match.

With the contest already in hand, Emily Groeneveld defeated Huie in three sets, 3-6, 6-0, 10-3 to cap off the competition with the 5-2 Liberty victory.

"Losing the doubles point normally takes away the momentum from a team, but we actually used it to motivate us to play much better in singles," stated head coach Jeff Maren. "I am very proud of how the girls stepped up their game on all six courts. Our mental strength continues to show."

Liberty returns to action on Feb. 21 when they play host to the Marshall Thundering Herd. The contest is slated to begin at 1 p.m. at the Sports Racket.

Liberty 5, JMU 2

Doubles

Khval/Yang (LU) def. Nelson/Pinchoff (JMU), 6-1
Khan/Herrock (JMU) def. Thong/Crist (LU), 6-4
Huie/Bradshaw (JMU) def. Rivera/Hassey (LU), 6-1

Singles

Rivera (LU) def. Nelson (JMU), 6-3, 6-2
Pinchoff (JMU) def. Hassey (LU), 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4
Khval (LU) def. Khan (JMU), 6-2, 6-3
Yang (LU) def. Harris (JMU), 7-5, 5-7, 6-1
Groeneveld (LU) def. Huie (JMU), 3-6, 6-0, 10-3
Crist (LU) def. Herrock (JMU), 6-2, 6-0

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