Liberty University
Wake Forest Invitational
Lady Flames Conclude Day One of Wake Forest Invitational
10/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
The Liberty Lady Flames tennis squad concluded day one of the Wake Forest Invitational this afternoon in Winston-Salem, N.C. The first day consisted of only singles play in which Liberty finished 9-11 during the outing.
Liberty had two individuals post a 2-0 record, seniors Valerie Thong and Belen Rivera. Thong competed in the F Singles bracket where she picked up her first victory against Valeria Zarama of USC Upstate. The California native then toppled Charlotte's Sasha Lee in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6(5). Thong will square off against Sarah Sarjoo of East Carolina on Sunday at 9 a.m. in the F Singles semifinals.
Rivera began the tournament in the B Singles Flight with a three-set victory over Emma Alderman of UConn. Alderman claimed the first set 6-3, but Rivera bounced back in the final two frames, 6-1, 6-1, to advance. Rivera then defeated Natalia Vlasova of Old Dominion, 7-6(3), 7-6(2) in the quarterfinals of the flight. Rivera will attempt to reach the B Singles Flight finals on Sunday at 9 a.m. against Wake Forest's Sam Asch.
The Lady Flames also received wins from Maria Khval, Emily Groeneveld, Evangeline Crist, Anna Dollar and Aleksandra Panchenko.
Crist and Dollar each won their first contest before falling in the quarterfinals. Crist defeated UNC Wilmington's Madara Straume in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6(3), before falling to Winthrop's Monica Aguado, 6-3, 6-3. Dollar picked up a victory against Richmond's Brittany Boys, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 in the first round before suffering a 6-3, 7-5 setback against UNCG's Masey DeMoss.
Liberty returns to action tomorrow with only doubles competition being played. Doubles play begins with the first round at 9 am and the flight finals being played at 2 p.m.
