Liberty Downs Gardner-Webb, 5-2

The Liberty Lady Flames closed out their regular season Big South schedule with a 5-2 victory at Gardner-Webb on Saturday afternoon. Liberty's victory marked the second consecutive season that the Lady Flames have finished 7-2 in conference action.

With the win, Liberty improves to 17-4 on the season, including 7-2 in Big South action. Gardner-Webb falls to 7-9 and 1-6 in conference play.

Liberty claimed the doubles point, sweeping through the Runnin' Bulldogs in each of the doubles matches. Evangeline Crist and Valerie Thong notched the first doubles victory after besting Stina Magnusson and Mary Walker Mixon, 8-1.

Emily Groeneveld and Belen Rivera clinched the doubles point after downing Catherine White and Sarah Rieckmann, 8-5.

Having clinched the doubles point, Maria Khval and Brittany Yang capped off doubles play with a 8-4 victory from the No.1 position over Rokia Sacko and Teodora Stanciu.

Crist extended the Liberty lead to 2-0 after dropping Rieckmann in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1 from the No. 3 singles position.

Nicola Wellman provided the Lady Flames with breathing room after the Florida native downed Stanciu, 6-0, 6-2 to extend the lead to 3-0.

Groeneveld provided the match-clinching victory after defeating Mixon in straight sets from the No. 6 singles position, 6-3, 6-2.

With the match already in hand, Liberty surrendered two of the final three singles matches to claim the 5-2 victory.

The final point for the red and blue came from Khval at the No. 2 spot. The Belarus native bested Magnusson in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3 to extend the Liberty lead to 5-0.

Gardner-Webb claimed the final two singles matches from the No. 1 and 4 spots, respectively.

"The heavy winds made it tough for both teams to play normal tennis, but our girls found a way to keep the momentum in their favor for the most part," stated head coach Jeff Maren. "Now it's time for us to refine our games a bit and get ready for Richmond next week."

Liberty closes out its regular season schedule on Thursday when the Lady Flames travel to Richmond, Va. to take on the Richmond Spiders at 2:30 p.m.

Liberty 5, Gardner-Webb 2

Doubles

Khval/Yang (LU) def. Sacko/Stanciu (GWU), 8-4
Crist/Thong (LU) def. Magnusson/Mixon (GWU), 8-1
Groeneveld/Rivera (LU) def. White/Rieckmann (GWU), 8-5

Singles

Sacko (GWU) def. Rivera (LU), 6-4, 5-7, 11-9
Khval (LU) def. Magnusson (GWU), 6-1, 6-3
Crist (LU) def. Rieckmann (GWU), 6-0, 6-1
White (GWU) def. Yang (LU), 7-5, 3-6, 11-9
Wellman (LU) def. Stanciu (GWU), 6-0, 6-2
Groeneveld (LU) def. Mixon (GWU), 6-3, 6-2

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