Liberty Men’s Tennis Prevails Against Florida Atlantic Owls 5-2 On March 28

The Liberty Men’s Tennis team scorched the Florida Atlantic Owls in a red hot 5-2 victory on March 28. 

After a hard loss Tuesday, March 25, the Liberty University Men’s Tennis team rose from the ashes to face off against Florida Atlantic University Friday, March 28. Seeking to taste victory, the Flames did not go hungry, defeating the Owls 5-2.  

While the doubles matches went in the Owls’ favor, winning two of three games, Liberty turned its luck around during the singles matches, winning five of six. 

The Owls dominated the doubles matches with two victories over the Flames. First, sophomore Matija Samardzic and redshirt freshman Ernst Gouws fell to FAU duo sophomore Mark Havlicek and freshman Marek Pazdera. Next, FAU senior John Bernard and freshman Lucca Pignaton defeated redshirt sophomore Chase Robinson and junior Carl Roothman 6-2. The 2-0 lead allowed the Owls to take the point for doubles matches.  

As the game moved on to the singles matches and the Owls’ scoreboard flashed 1-0, the Flames turned up the heat, leaving the match as victors.  

Sophomore Rodrigo Santiago Arraez dealt a decisive blow to the Owls by coming out on top of both of his rounds. He took the lead in the first round with a 6-1 victory. Similarly in his second round, he emerged with a 6-3 victory over FAU freshman Jan Kusy, finishing as the first Flames win of the day. 

Going 2-0 in sets, sophomore Matija Samardzic found victory in both rounds where he took a 6-4 win in the first and clinched the tiebreaker round 7-6 (7-4) in the second. 

Roothman also overcame a hard-fought battle against Havlicek, winning both rounds for the Flames 7-5 and 6-4. 

Senior Joaquim Almeida soared ahead his first set with a 6-0 lead over Bernard. While Bernard prevailed with a second round win, the third round reignited the fire for Almeida, allowing him to come back for a 6-4 victory. 

FAU’s only singles win came from sophomore Simon Myslivec who defeated Robinson. As the match that finished second-to-last, Robinson fought tooth and nail to gain Liberty a win to close the match. In his first round, he lost after extending the game into a tiebreaker, where Myslivec won 7-6 (7-5). Robinson came back in his second set for a 6-3 win. However, FAU claimed the third round, defeating Robinson 6-1. 

Freshman Siwanat Auytayakul finished his first round sending a statement to the Owls with a 6-0 victory. His second round proved more difficult as his opponent, freshman Segundo Goity Zapico, fought back to a 7-5 win for FAU. Auytayakul fought hard in his third round where the two battled as the last players on the court, finishing off the day in a tiebreaker with a 7-6 (9-7) victory. 

With Auytayakul’s win, the Flames were able to win overall for the day with a 5-2 advantage over the Owls.   

Since this, the Flames suffered a 5-2 loss against the University of North Carolina Wilmington on Wednesday, April 2. Next, they travel to New Orleans to play Tulane University Friday, April 5 at 2:00 p.m.