Liberty University
Virginia
UVA Gets Past Liberty, 6-1, on Sunday
2/11/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Three-time reigning NCAA team champion Virginia bested the visiting Liberty Flames, 6-1, on Sunday evening at Boar's Head Sports Club.
The Flames drop to 3-5 with the setback, closing out a 1-2 weekend. Virginia (5-3) has now won two straight after victories over Liberty and Monmouth on Sunday.
"We fired on all cylinders in doubles and came up a bit short. Credit to UVA for competing well tonight," said Flames head coach Derek Schwandt. "It was a great match to be a part of. Chase, Eddie and Sam brought energy, passion and fight in singles that was excellent."
Liberty nearly took the doubles point from the Cavaliers but was outlasted in a tiebreaker in the No. 3 match. Virginia's Matthew Lord and Ammar Alhaqbani outlasted the Flames' Sam Matheson and Chase Burton, 7-6 (5), which clinched the overall doubles point. In the No. 1 bout, Aswin Lizen and Gianni Ross overcame Liberty's Alex Poynter and Diego Castano, 6-3.
Flames junior Eddie Gutierrez and Vince Salas continued their remarkable doubles display by winning, 6-3, versus Spencer Bozsik and Carl Soderlund on court two. The Liberty tandem is now 6-0 in doubles, this spring.
The host Cavaliers widened the lead to 2-0, as Alhaqbani defeated Castano in straight sets (6-0, 6-1). The Flames picked up their only point of the evening shortly after from Matheson in the No. 1 singles match. The senior was credited with a win when he defeated Soderlund, 7-6 (3), in a first-set tiebreaker and Soderlund retired following the set.
Virginia's wins in the No. 4 and No. 3 positions boosted the home lead to 4-1, officially putting the bout out of reach for the visitors. At No. 4, Salas succumbed to Lord, 6-4, 6-0. At No. 3, Gutierrez was outlasted by Ross, 6-4, 6-4.
The Cavaliers upped the lead to four (5-1) with Kyrylo Tsygura's straight-sets (7-5, 6-2) victory against Poynter on court five.
Liberty's Burton battled with Lizen, the No. 10-ranked singles player in the country, pushing the Virginia junior to three sets. Burton won the first set, 6-4, before Lizen bounced back in the second, 7-5. The two players were locked in a 3-3 tie in the third until Lizen captured the final three games and the match, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. Lizen's 19th victory of the season against just one loss ended the match at 6-1.
Liberty will have 12 days to prepare for its next set of matches. The Flames will travel to Tallahassee, Fla. for matches against New Orleans (neutral site, Feb. 23), Florida A&M (road, Feb. 24) and Florida State (road, Feb. 24).
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,2,3
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
5,1,4,3,6,2