No. 69 Liberty Tops Bellarmine 6-1 for Fourth ASUN Win in a Row

No. 69 Liberty topped ASUN foe Bellarmine 6-1 on Friday at the Eddie Weber Tennis Complex for its fourth consecutive conference victory.

The Flames (8-9) improve to 4-2 in the ASUN and remain a game behind Kennesaw State (5-1) No. 71 North Florida (5-1) and No. 72 FGCU (5-1), all winners on Friday as well. The Knights fall to 5-13 and 1-5 in league play. Liberty is now 5-0 all-time versus Bellarmine, with all of those victories coming in the last three seasons.

#69 Liberty 6, Bellarmine 1 

Singles Competition

1. Nicaise Muamba (LIBERTYM) def. Cole Groetsch (BELL) 6-1, 6-2
2. Jack Batchelor (BELL) def. R. Marques Da Silva (LIBERTYM) 7-5, 6-4
3. Christiaan Worst (LIBERTYM) def. Paul Reynolds (BELL) 6-2, 6-0
4. Thando Longwe-Smit (LIBERTYM) def. Emil B. Berglund (BELL) 6-4, 7-5
5. Zion Heaven (LIBERTYM) def. Xavier Ecarma (BELL) 6-3, 6-4
6. Goncalo Ferreira (LIBERTYM) def. Joseph Naville (BELL) 6-1, 6-3

Doubles Competition

1. Cole Groetsch/Jack Batchelor (BELL) vs. Nicaise Muamba/R. Marques Da Silva (LIBERTYM) 4-3, unfinished
2. Omar El Kadi/Thando Longwe-Smit (LIBERTYM) def. Xavier Ecarma/Paul Reynolds (BELL) 6-1
3. Christiaan Worst/Goncalo Ferreira (LIBERTYM) def. Emil B. Berglund/Joseph Naville (BELL) 6-3

Liberty 8-9, 4-2 ASUN; National ranking #69

Bellarmine 5-13, 1-5 ASUN

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

How It Happened

• Liberty won the doubles session and took five of the six singles contests, each in straight sets.

• The Flames’ No. 2 doubles team, Omar El Kadi and Thando Longwe-Smit prevailed 6-1 versus Xavier Ecarma and Paul Reynolds. El Kadi and Longwe-Smit are 4-2 as a unit and 3-1 in the No. 2 slot.

• Liberty’s other doubles triumph came courtesy of Christiaan Worst and Goncalo Ferreira in what was their first-ever competitive match together. The Flames duo got past Emil B. Berglund and Joseph Naville 6-3 on court three, helping the visitors seize a 1-0 advantage.

• Liberty claimed the No. 1 and No. 3-6 singles matches in straight sets to secure the five-point margin of victory. On court one, Nicaise Muamba handled Paul Grotesch 6-1, 6-2.

• The No. 3 singles match saw Worst (Liberty) defeat Reynolds (Bellarmine) in two sets, 6-2, 6-0. Worst leads all Flames with 11 spring singles victories (11-5 record). The Pretoria, South Africa native is 8-0 at No. 3 singles in his Flames career (two seasons).

• Playing in the No. 4 singles position for the first time this spring, Longwe-Smit came out on top against his counterpart, Berglund, 6-4, 7-5. On court five, the Flames’ Zion Heaven bested Ecarma 6-3, 6-4. Liberty’s Ferreira earned his second victory of the day against Naville, winning 6-1, 6-3 at No. 6 singles.

• The Knights’ lone victory came on court two, as Jack Batchelor upended Liberty’s Rafael Marques Da Silva 7-5, 6-4.

• Liberty improves to 16-3 all-time in ASUN regular season matches.

• The Flames have outscored the Knights 31-1 in five all-time matchups.

Next Up

• The Flames will play their last non-conference match of the season against the No. 36-ranked VCU Rams (15-6). First serve is 1 p.m. from the Thalhimer Tennis Center in Richmond, VA.

• Liberty is 0-5 all-time against VCU. The two teams last met on Feb. 7, 2020, a 4-3 Rams win in Lynchburg.