Women’s tennis advances to semifinal
A riveting weekend of ASUN Tournament tennis went the way of the Lady Flames April 15-16, as Liberty notched wins against Bellarmine and Austin Peay to claim a spot in the ASUN Championship Semifinal.
The Lady Flames took on No. 12 Bellarmine to begin the weekend.
Entering the match, Bellarmine’s roster was depleted, forcing the team to forfeit the singles and doubles match.
As a result of the forfeit, Liberty now only needed one doubles win, which it secured. Sophomores Maretha Burger and Bruna Sampaio defeated Knights’ Hanley Riner and Channing Varnum by a score of 6-1, setting their team up for a quarterfinal berth with just two singles wins.
In singles play, junior Esther Lovato snagged the first win, taking down Riner 6-1 to shift the match score to 3-0. The victory was Lovato’s 17th of the season.
With a trip to the quarterfinal just one win away, senior Maria Davtyan understood the task that lay before her, dominating Vendula Kryslova by a score of 6-1 and propelling her team to the next round.
It was the host No. 4 Austin Peay Governors awaiting Liberty in the quarterfinal round, challenging them in an intense duel for a trip to the ASUN Semifinal.
The Lady Flames started the match a bit off balance, dropping the first doubles match to the Governors. Lovato and Davtyan, however, would revive their team, taking their match 6-4 against Austin Peay’s Asia Fontana and Yu-Hua Cheng. The next doubles match saw sophomore Maria Julianna Parra Romero and junior Tiffany Nguyen battle with Governors’ Jana Leder and Melody Hefti. The match was up-and-down, with both groups fighting until Romero and Nguyen notched three straight points secured a victory, improving their duo record to 8-1.
In singles, the competition was tight, with the Lady Flames’ fate all coming down to Davtyan’s match against Denise Torealba to break the 3-3 tie.
The contest of two stellar athletes was intense, with the Governors taking the initial set in a tiebreaker, 7-6. Davtyan, however, remained cool under the pressure. The senior from Armenia fought relentlessly, coming back from a 4-0 deficit and surging ahead to a 5-3 victory. Davtyan not only took home her 14th victory of the season, but one that would give her team the chance to compete in the ASUN Semifinal.
“(I am) so immensely proud of our girls,” Liberty Head Coach Jeff Maren said. “We wanted to use our God-given gifts to the max, and they did. Masha’s mental strength carried her through an epic final match, and the team was so supportive of each other. We’ve faced much adversity this year, but I believe that the adversity has made us stronger. I want to give God all of the credit and honor today.”
The Lady Flames now have their most daunting task set before them, as they are set to take on No. 1 North Florida at UNF Tennis Complex in Jacksonville, Florida. The first serve of the match will take place April 21 at 2:30 p.m.
Cote is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion