Seniors show out

Groeneveld and Hassey roll in final home match

SUCCESS — Seniors Mariely Hassey and Emily Groeneveld won in their doubles match and each won in their singles match. Photo Credit: Joel Coleman

SUCCESS — Seniors Mariely Hassey and Emily Groeneveld won in their doubles match and each won in their singles match.
Photo Credit: Joel Coleman

Behind strong play from seniors Emily Groeneveld and Mariely Hassey, the Liberty women’s tennis team cruised past Presbyterian in dominating fashion on Senior Day at the Cook Tennis Center Sunday, March 26.

With the win, the Lady Flames move to 7-9 on the season and 4-0 in conference play.

The visiting Blue Hose fell to 11-6 and 1-3 in the conference.

Groeneveld and Hassey, who were celebrated before Sunday’s match for long Liberty careers, both had successful days, winning their doubles match together as well as their respective singles.

“Mariely and Emily have really done a great job all of their careers,” Head Coach Jeff Maren said after the victory.

“Both of them have been the cornerstones for us. They’re able to just be solid all the way through. They’re consistently winning matches for us and just being strong. They’ve provided a lot of strength — a lot of stability for our team.”

In addition to Groeneveld and Hassey — who blew by Presbyterian’s Caroline Ferrari and Mary Dickson for a 6-2 doubles win on court two — sophomore Rebecca Anderson and freshman Eugenia Camacho took care of business to the tune of a 6-1 victory on court three against Presbyterian’s Beth Taylor and Brittany Nuttall, giving Liberty the coveted doubles point.

Presbyterian edged Liberty junior Evangeline Crist and freshman Anna Dollar on court one, but the doubles point had already been decided by then.

In singles play, the Lady Flames had no issues, taking five out of six matches.

Hassey was able to continue her strong afternoon by winning in straight sets against Nuttall (6-1, 6-2) out of the 5th slot in the lineup.

“Today was a little emotional because it was our last home match,” Hassey said.

“It was very nice getting to win both matches.”

On court two, Crist defeated Ferrari, also in straight sets (6-3, 6-1), allowing Liberty to jump out to a 3-0 overall lead.

Playing out of the 4th spot, Groeneveld was able to secure the match for Liberty with a straight sets victory (6-2, 6-3) over Nicole Croxton, making it 4-0.

In the other three singles, Dollar defeated Taylor (6-4, 6-2) on court three, Camacho defeated Katie Thompson (6-1, 3-6, 6-4) on court six, and Anderson fell to Tracy Johnson in a third set 10-point tiebreaker (6-4, 4-6, 1-0 [11-9]) on court one.

“I think we cut out a lot of errors,” Maren said of his team’s dominating 6-1 performance.

“Sometimes when we come up a little short it’s because we have beaten ourselves. Today we did not beat ourselves. We played the way we’re supposed to play and were consistent at putting balls away that we needed to put away. The consistency was the most important part for us today.”

The win keeps Liberty undefeated in the Big South, but Maren said they cannot get too comfortable because they have upcoming dates with a couple solid teams.

“It always feels good, but we still have our two biggest opponents coming up,” Maren said.

“We play Winthrop next week and Charleston Southern in a few weeks, and those are our chief competition within the conference, so we’ve got to get ourselves ready for that.”

Sunday, though, was all about the celebration of Groeneveld and Hassey for their contributions to the Liberty women’s tennis program over the combined seven years they have been here.

After the match, Groeneveld was complementary of her teammates, saying this is one of the best times she’s ever had playing the sport.

“I’ve had a lot of fun this senior year,” Groeneveld said.

“It’s been, like, the best year ever — which makes it even harder to leave. I just think about memories with the girls, crazy fun times with each other and a lot of laughing.”

Hassey made mention of how her time at Liberty has helped shape her as a person.

“It’s been a lot of ups and downs since my freshman year, but it has definitely made me grow into the person I am today and the person I’m going to be after I graduate,” Hassey said.

“It has been an amazing journey – one that I don’t regret.”

Liberty next plays at Gardner-Webb on Friday,  March 31st.

BRIENZA is a guest writer.

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