4 Flames to Compete at Elon Invitational, Friday Through Sunday

Draws

The Liberty Flames men’s tennis squad will send four players to compete at the Elon Invitational.

The three-day event will be held at Elon’s Jimmy Powell Tennis Center in Elon, N.C. and will get started on Friday at 9:30 a.m. Omar El Kadi, Zion Heaven, Thando Longwe-Smit and Deji Thomas-Smith will represent the Flames at the tournament. The event will feature regular tournament style draws. Draws will be finalized on Thursday by host Elon and will be posted on LibertyFlames.com once they are available.

This is Liberty’s first fall tournament bracket style (draws) event since the Flames competed in the ITA Atlantic Super Regional just over 11 months ago (Oct. 23-24, 2021).

Event/Days/Location: Elon Invitational | Friday-Sunday | Jimmy Powell Tennis Center | Elon, N.C.

Participating Teams: Liberty, Charlotte, Elon, Furman, Hampton, James Madison, Liberty, Longwood, Norfolk State, North Carolina A&T, North Carolina Central, Queens, Radford, UNC Asheville, UNCG

Liberty Flames Players Participating: Omar El Kadi, Zion Heaven, Thando Longwe-Smit, Deji Thomas-Smith

Schedule

Friday – 9:30 a.m. start

Saturday – 9 a.m. start

Sunday – 9 a.m. start

Tournament Breakdown

All four Liberty players competing made their season debuts at last weekend’s Penn Invitational, held at the Hamlin Tennis Center in Philadelphia, Pa. Collectively, the Flames’ eight competitors at that event posted a 15-7 singles record and 5-5 doubles mark against opponents from Princeton (Friday), Temple (Saturday) and Penn (Sunday).

Of those competing this weekend at Elon, Zion Heaven and Thando Longwe-Smit each won all three singles matches they competed in. Deji Thomas-Smith went 2-1 in his three matches, while Omar El Kadi was 1-0. In doubles, El Kadi and Longwe-Smit won their lone match as a pairing.