Liberty University
Longwood
Crist Breaks Doubles Wins Record, Lady Flames Down Lancers, 7-0
4/3/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Liberty senior captain Evangeline Crist won her program-record-breaking 91st career doubles match, and the Lady Flames women's tennis team earned a 7-0 shutout of Longwood, Wednesday afternoon at the Lancer Courts.
"I'm so grateful for a team and coaches that support me every step of the way. The coaches have taught me so much that has allowed my game to grow tremendously," Crist said.
Liberty is now 12-8 overall, equaling its win total from a year ago, and second in the Big South at 5-1. Longwood falls to 7-8 overall and 0-7 in the conference following the defeat.
Crist and her doubles partner, Anna Dollar, defeated the Lancers' Marija Venta and Kaori Terunuma, 6-1, in the No. 1 doubles match for Crist's record-setting win.
"I couldn't have made it to all the wins without Anna. Our games work so well together, we have great chemistry and just have fun playing with each other. Thanks to Val (Valerie Thong) for getting me half of the way," said Crist. "I've never been more proud to set a record for the school I love. I'm thankful for every opportunity that Liberty gives me to represent Him."
With her 91st victory, Crist surpassed Valerie Thong (90 wins, 2012-15), who was her doubles partner for the 2014-15 seasons and 2015-16 seasons. Over the last four seasons, here are Crist's win totals in doubles: 27 (2014-15), 28 (2015-16), 19 (2016-17) and 17 (senior 2017-18).
The Lady Flames swept the doubles point from the Lancers and took each of the six singles bouts in straight sets.
Liberty's Rebekah Anderson and Grace Hashiguchi dominated their No. 3 doubles match versus Liberty's Tanja Skalda and Julia Candiotto, winning 6-0. The duo is now 11-2 in the spring and 5-0 in Big South play.
Following Crist and Dollar's victory, Maria Medina and Lara Soares of Liberty battled back from a 5-4 deficit to Jamie Breunig and Yulia Almiro. The Lady Flames' duo took the next three games to claim the match, 7-5, for the doubles sweep. Medina and Soares are now 5-1 in conference competition, this spring.
In singles, Soares gave the Lady Flames a 2-0 lead in the match with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Breunig in the No. 3 slot. Soares has now won seven consecutive singles bouts, all in straight sets, and 14 of her last 15 matches since Feb. 4.
Crist trailed Skalda, 2-1, early on in her No. 5 singles match on court five before winning 11 of the final 12 games for her 6-3, 6-0 triumph to make it 3-0, Lady Flames. With 86 career singles wins, including nine straight wins since March 3, she is now one away from tying Jordan Jenkins (87 wins, 2008-11) for the most singles wins in Liberty women's tennis history.
Anderson picked up the fourth and clinching point for visiting Liberty, a 6-1, 6-3 decision over her counterpart, Terunuma. The Fullerton, Calif., native's win bolstered the Lady Flames' lead to 4-0. Anderson is now 7-3 in dual matches, this spring.
Junior Ashley Bongart collected singles win number 20 on the year, a two-setter over Almiron (6-2, 6-1) on court one. After trailing, 5-4, in the first set to Venta in the No. 2 singles bout, Medina stormed back to win the set, 7-5. The native of Venezuela then dominated the second set, 6-1, for the 7-5, 6-1 match victory.
The last match to start was the No. 6 singles bout between Dollar (Liberty) and Candiotto (Longwood). Dollar upped her record to 4-0 in the No. 6 position with a 6-3, 6-1 triumph to close out the day, bringing the score to 7-0 in favor of Liberty.
Wednesday's win against Longwood marked the seventh 7-0 victory of the spring for Liberty. The Lady Flames have won three of their six Big South contests by a 7-0 score: Campbell, March 15, UNC Asheville, last Friday, and Longwood on Wednesday.
Liberty will be back in action at home on Friday against the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs (3-11, 0-5 Big South) at 2 p.m. at the Cook Tennis Center. Friday is Senior Day for the Liberty women's tennis program. The team will take time prior to the match to honor senior captain Evangeline Crist.
Liberty 7, Longwood 0
Singles competition
1. BONGART, Ashley (LIBERTYW) def. ALMIRON, Yulia (LWUW) 6-2, 6-1
2. MEDINA, Maria (LIBERTYW) def. VENTA, Marija (LWUW) 7-5, 6-1
3. SOARES, Lara (LIBERTYW) def. BREUNIG, Jamie (LWUW) 6-0, 6-1
4. ANDERSON, Rebekah (LIBERTYW) def. TERUNUMA, Kaori (LWUW) 6-1, 6-3
5. CRIST, Evangeline (LIBERTYW) def. SKALDA, Tanja (LWUW) 6-3, 6-0
6. DOLLAR, Anna (LIBERTYW) def. CANDIOTTO, Julia (LWUW) 6-1, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. CRIST, Evangeline/DOLLAR, Anna (LIBERTYW) def. VENTA, Marija/TERUNUMA, Kaori (LWUW) 6-1
2. MEDINA, Maria/SOARES, Lara (LIBERTYW) def. BREUNIG, Jamie/ALMIRON, Yulia (LWUW) 7-5
3. ANDERSON, Rebekah/HASHIGUCHI, Grace (LIBERTYW) def. SKALDA, Tanja/CANDIOTTO, Julia (LWUW) 6-0
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (3,5,4,1,2,6) T-2:52
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,1,2
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
3,5,4,1,2,6