Lady Flames Suffer First Big South Loss of Season; Fall to Winthrop

The Liberty Lady Flames tennis team, playing its third match in four days, dropped a 6-1 Big South Conference decision to the Winthrop Lady Eagles on Saturday afternoon in Rock Hill, S.C.

Winthrop opened the day by taking all three doubles matches, including two matches decided by two points or less. In singles competition, Liberty captured a win at No. 1 singles, when Winthrop senior Ana Paula Novaes was forced to retire. The win was Jonita Randolph's ninth victory of the season. The Townville, S.C. native, Liberty's all-time leader in victories, needs two more wins to become the first Liberty tennis player to win 50 career matches.

Despite the retirement of Novaes, the Lady Eagles rallied to take the remaining singles matches and wrap up their victory.

With the loss, Liberty drops to 4-6 on the season and 2-1 in the Big South. The Lady Flames resume play on March 25, when they return home to the Esbenshade-Hershey tennis courts to take on James Madison. Match time is scheduled for 1 p.m.

DOUBLES
1. Ana Paula Novaes/Paula Pereira (WU) def. Jonita Randolph/Martyna Hanusz (LU) – 8-7
2. Antoniya Bagaric/Patricia Coimbra (WU) def. Ekaterina Kuznetsova/Kathy Waldthausen (LU) – 8-6
3. Larisa Bekmetova/Yelina Fedina (WU) def. Daniela Dimas/Livia Branco (LU) – 8-1

SINGLES
1. Jonita Randolph (LU) def. Ana Paula Novaes (WU) – 5-7, 2-3, retired
2. Patricia Coimbra (WU) def. Ekaterina Kuznetsova (LU) – 6-0, 6-3
3. Antoniya Bagaric (WU) def. Kathy Waldthausen (LU) – 6-1, 6-4
4. Yelina Fadina (WU) def. Daniela Dimas (LU) – 6-1, 6-1
5. Larisa Bekmetova (WU) def. Martyna Hanusz (LU) – 6-0, 6-1
6. Paula Pereira (WU) def. Livia Branco (LU) – 6-0, 6-1

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Lady Flames Suffer First Big South Loss of Season; Fall to Winthrop

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