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Liberty University
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UNC Asheville
Lady Flames Cruise Past UNC Asheville
3/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
The Liberty Lady Flames bested UNC Asheville by a score of 5-2 on Saturday at the Sports Racket in Lynchburg, Va.
With the victory, the Lady Flames improve to 5-6 on the season and 2-0 in conference action, while the Bulldogs fall to 5-4 and 1-1 in conference play.
The Lady Flames downed Asheville in each of the three doubles matches beginning with Evangeline Crist and Valerie Thong's 6-1 victory over Kylee Shipley and Hannah Francisco in the No. 1 doubles slot.
Aleksandra Panchenko and Rebekah Anderson clinched the doubles point for Liberty after downing Hunter Hall and Lauren Brooker from the No. 3 doubles slot, 6-3.
Maria Khval and Anna Dollar defeated Ericka Rivero and Christin Louw just for good measure in the No. 2 doubles position by a final score of 6-4.
The Lady Flames quickly put the match to rest, winning the first three singles matches to take a 4-0 lead to clinch the match. Belen Rivera defeated Brooker in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2 to begin singles action and provide Liberty with a 2-0 advantage.
Crist then gave the Lady Flames a 3-0 cushion after downing Rivero in straight sets from the No. 2 singles slot, 6-2, 6-1.
The match was sealed just three singles matches in when Mariely Hassey bested Hall in straight sets from the No. 4 singles slot, 6-0, 6-3.
Asheville notched two victories too late in the final three singles matches.
The final Liberty victory came from Khval in the No. 1 singles position when the junior defeated Francisco 6-2, 5-7, 10-7 to give the Lady Flames a 5-1 lead.
"Once again we were able to overcome our illness and injury obstacles and compete well against a solid UNCA team," stated head coach Jeff Maren. "Thankfully, we are a deep team and have plenty of girls who can step up when others can't. We are looking forward to our trip to California where we will be challenged once again to raise our level."
The Lady Flames return to action on Tuesday when they travel to California to take on Boston University at 4 p.m. ET. Liberty will then take on Gonzaga (4 p.m. ET) and Toledo (7 p.m. ET) on Thursday in Palm Springs, Calif.
Liberty 5, UNC Asheville 2
Doubles
- Crist/Thong (LU) def. Shipley/Francisco (UNCA), 6-1
- Khval/Dollar (LU) def. Rivero/Louw (UNCA), 6-4
- Anderson/Panchenko (LU) def. Hall/Brooker (UNCA), 6-3
Singles
- Khval (LU) def. Francisco (UNCA), 6-2, 5-7, 10-7
- Crist (LU) def. Rivero (UNCA), 6-2, 6-1
- Rivera (LU) def. Brooker (UNCA), 6-0, 6-2
- Hassey (LU) def. Hall (UNCA), 6-0, 6-3
- Louw (UNCA) def. Groeneveld (LU), 6-2, 6-2
- Shipley (UNCA) def. Mabe (LU), 6-7(7-9), 6-3, 10-4
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
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#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,3,2
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2,4,5,1,6