No. 66 Liberty Falls to Visiting No. 32 Charlotte 6-1

No. 66 Liberty lost at home to the No. 32 Charlotte 49ers 6-1, Friday afternoon at the Liberty Indoor Tennis Center.

Charlotte claimed the doubles point with a pair of 6-3 wins on courts one and two. The 49ers won the next singles three matches on courts two, six and three to clinch the victory. The Lady Flames managed a point on court one with a win from standout sophomore Maria Juliana Parra Romero.

With the win, the 49ers take a 4-3 lead in the all-time series with the Lady Flames.

#32 Charlotte 6, #66 Liberty 1

Singles Competition

1. M. Juliana P. Romero (LIBERTYW) def. Schech,Ruxi (CLT) 6-0, 6-2
2. Quiterio,Lucia (CLT) def. Esther Lovato (LIBERTYW) 6-0, 6-0
3. Maquet,Margaux (CLT) def. Tiffany Nguyen (LIBERTYW) 6-3, 6-0
4. Petruzelova,Lucie (CLT) def. Marina Davtyan (LIBERTYW) 6-1, 7-6 (8-6)
5. Wilkins,Emma (CLT) def. Maretha Burger (LIBERTYW) 6-3, 6-3
6. Sawhney,Kaavya (CLT) def. Elsa Kirch (LIBERTYW) 6-4, 6-1

Doubles Competition

1. #55 Quiterio,Lucia/Maquet,Margaux (CLT) def. M. Juliana P. Romero/Alexandra Almborg (LIBERTYW) 6-3
2. Schech,Ruxi/Sawhney,Kaavya (CLT) def. Tiffany Nguyen/Maretha Burger (LIBERTYW) 6-3
3. Esther Lovato/Marina Davtyan (LIBERTYW) vs. Wilkins,Emma/Petruzelova,Lucie (CLT) 5-4, unfinished

Liberty 8-4; National ranking #66

Charlotte 10-4; National ranking #32

Order of Finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (2,6,3,1,5,4)

Official: S Lunsford T-2:24

How It Happened

• Liberty's top doubles unit was facing a tall task on court one with Charlotte carrying the No. 55 team of Lucia Quiterio and Margaux Maquet. Maria Juliana Parra Romero and Alexandra Almborg got out to a quick 2-0 lead, but Quiterio and Maquet responded with by winning four straight games in an eventual 6-3 victory.

• Charlotte clinched the doubles point and took a 1-0 lead on the strength of Ruxi Schech and Kaavya Sawhney's 6-3 triumph over Tiffany Nguyen and Maretha Burger in the No. 2 position.

• Charlotte claimed the first singles point on court two, with the 49ers' Quiterio defeating Liberty's Esther Lovato 6-0, 6-0. The loss is Lovato's first of the season after winning the first eight matches on the spring campaign.

• After Charlotte's Sawhney topped Elsa Kirch 6-4, 6-1 on court six, the 49ers earned the match-clinching fourth point on court three with Maquet topping the Lady Flames' Tiffany Nguyen by 6-3, 6-0 score. Nguyen falls to 7-2 in singles.

• The Lady Flames received their lone point on court one by Parra Romero. The sophomore bested the 49ers' Schech 6-0, 6-2. Parra Romero gets her record on the season to 8-1 and is tied for the team lead in singles victories with Lovato.

• Liberty's Marina Davytan fought to a tiebreak second set on court four after falling behind 5-1 in the set and winning the next five games. The 49ers' Lucie Petruzelova answered down 6-5 to force the tiebreak and fought off a match point in the tiebreaker to take the 6-1, 7-6 (6) win.

• This is only Liberty's second home loss of 2023. The Lady Flames are 5-2 at home. Charlotte is the first ranked opponent the Lady Flames have faced this year.

Next Up

• The Lady Flames return to action on Sunday at noon to face the William & Mary Tribe (6-2). The match is scheduled to be held outside at the Liberty Tennis Complex.

• This will be the fifth all-time meeting between Liberty and William & Mary. The Lady Flames hold a 3-1 series edge and won last year's matchup (March 5, 2022) by a 4-3 score on the road.

Main Photo at Top of Story: Elsa Kirch