.png&width=100&height=100&type=webp)
Liberty University
No. 4 seed Charleston Southern
Liberty Advances to Big South Title Match
4/17/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
The No. 1 seed Liberty Lady Flames tennis squad ousted No. 4 seed Charleston Southern in the Big South Women's Tennis Championship semifinals on Sunday by the final score of 4-0 at the Cook Tennis Center.
The Lady Flames advance to the Big South championship match for the first time in program history. Liberty avenged its 4-3 regular season loss against Charleston Southern on April 2, the lone conference loss for the Lady Flames this season.
With the victory, Liberty improves to 15-9 overall this season, while the Buccaneers fall to 14-5 to conclude their season.
The Lady Flames claimed the doubles point for the 16th time in the last 18 attempts. Following Liberty slipping 6-0 on court three, the duo of Maria Khval and Anna Dollar evened the doubles score at one apiece after defeating Annika Wagner and Kimberley Koerner, 6-1.
Liberty's No. 1 doubles tandem of Evangeline Crist and Valerie Thong delivered a 6-2 victory over Nicolin Luecke and Brianna Thompson to clinch the doubles point for the Lady Flames.
Khval provided the Lady Flames with the 2-0 edge over the Buccaneers after besting Luecke in straight sets from the No. 1 singles slot, 6-2, 6-0. Khval's victory marked her 61st career singles victory, placing her in sole possession of third place among all-time singles victories in program history, passing former teammate Nicola Wellman.
Liberty then extended its lead to three after Thong notched her ninth singles victory of the spring season. The senior from California bested Chanel Bell in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2 to provide the Lady Flames with the 3-0 advantage.
Despite the Lady Flames jumping out to the quick three-point advantage, three of the final four matches ventured into the third set. Liberty would not yield a point, however, as Belen Rivera buried the Buccaneers' hopes of a comeback. The Bolivian senior defeated Koerner in three sets to seal the 4-0 victory in favor of Liberty.
Rivera claimed the first set 6-4 before slipping in the second set 6-4. Rivera gathered momentum early in the third set and ran away from Koerner, earning the 6-1 victory in the third set to propel the Lady Flames into the conference championship match.
"Our number one goal this year has always been to use our skills to honor and glorify God," stated head coach Jeff Maren. "I believe that the girls did an outstanding job of doing that today. They executed with precision and focus, and had tremendous belief in their God-given abilities and in their teammates. I couldn't be more proud of them."
Liberty will return to action tomorrow at noon in the Big South championship match. The Lady Flames will square off against the winner of No. 2 Winthrop and No. 3 Coastal Carolina. Liberty bested both squads by the score of 4-3 during the regular season this spring.
Liberty 4, Charleston Southern 0
Doubles
- Crist/Thong (LU) def. Luecke/Thompson (CSU), 6-2
- Dollar/Khval (LU) def. Wagner/Koerner (CSU), 6-1
- Cloessner/Koussenkova (CSU) def. Anderson/Panchenko (LU), 6-0
Singles
- Khval (LU) def. Luecke (CSU), 6-2, 6-0
- Dollar (LU) vs. Cloessner (CSU), 6-1, 6-7(5-7), 0-3, unfinished
- Crist (LU) vs. Thompson (CSU), 6-7(5-7), 5-5, unfinished
- Rivera (LU) def. Koerner (CSU), 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
- Hassey (LU) vs. Koussenkova (CSU), 5-7, 7-5, 0-1 unfinished
- Thong (LU) def. Bell (CSU), 6-0, 6-2
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2,1
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
1,6,4