Tournament Draws

The Liberty Flames men's tennis team will conclude its 2016 fall season at the Wake Forest Invitational.

The three-day invite will be played at both the Wake Forest Tennis Center and the Wake Forest Indoor Tennis Center, from Sunday to Sunday.

The Flames' full roster, comprised of eight players, is set to compete this weekend. Each day of play will begin at 9 a.m.

The Wake Forest Invitational has traditionally featured a very strong group of teams, including Virginia, Duke, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Indiana, Old Dominion and Georgia State. All of these teams finished in the top 75 of the 2015-16 ITA rankings, with Virginia ending the year ranked No. 1 in the nation.

Flames Fall Highlights:

• Max Borcuti (So.): Borcuti owns three singles wins and a doubles win this fall. The sophomore posted two wins at B2 singles at the Elon Fall Invitational, Sept. 23-24.
• Samuel Brown (Fr.): Brown, a native of Springfield, Va., is making his college tennis debut at the Wake Forest Invitational.
• Chase Burton (Fr.): Burton won three matches to make the round of 16 at the ITA Atlantic Regional in mid-October. He became the first Flame since Shea Thomas in 2013 to advance to the round of 16 in the singles main draw. The freshman also represented Liberty at the ITF USA F29 Futures tournament in Irvine, Calif.
• Diego Castano (Jr.): Castano teamed up with Poynter to capture the Black doubles flight title at the N.C. State Invite, Oct. 21-23. Castano has eight doubles wins and three singles victories, this fall.
• Eddie Gutierrez (So.): Gutierrez advanced to the round of 32 with a pair of wins at the ITA Atlantic Regional at Virginia Tech. The Mexico City, Mexico, native also teamed up with Heller to win three matches and a Black doubles flight crown at the season-opening USC Upstate Classic.
• Ryker Heller (So.): Heller paired up with Gutierrez to go 3-0 and win the Black doubles flight at the USC Upstate Classic, Sept. 9-11.
• Alex Poynter (Fr.): Poynter teamed with Castano to win the Black doubles flight at the N.C. State Invite, Oct. 21-23. The pairing has six doubles wins this fall. Poynter has collected two singles wins thus far.
• Vince Salas (Fr.): Salas notched a victory at the 2016 ITA Men's All-American Championships on Oct. 1. The Angeles, Phillipines, native possesses five singles wins and two doubles victories so far in his freshman campaign.

Liberty History at the Wake Forest Invitational
The Flames have competed at the Wake Forest Invite in every fall season since 2012.

In 2015, Liberty combined to post an overall record of 24-17 during the duration of the tournament. Egon Samaii placed first in the B1 Singles draw, posting a 4-0 record, while Sam Matheson took third in the A1 Singles draw. Three Liberty doubles teams finished with 2-1 records.

In 2014, the Flames went 20-21 overall, including a 17-13 mark in singles play. Dillon Segur secured the C2 Singles Flight title with a 4-0 record.

N.C. State Invite Recap
Liberty last competed this fall at the N.C. State Invite from Oct. 21-23. The doubles tandem of junior Diego Castano and Alex Poynter won the Black doubles flight, winning three matches by identical 8-2 scores to capture the title.

Collectively, the Flames won four doubles matches and three singles matches over the three-day invite.

Looking Forward
The Flames' spring 2017 schedule will be released at a later date.