Liberty University
Presbyterian
Presbyterian Edges Liberty on Friday, 4-3
4/6/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Host Presbyterian won a trio of three-set matches down the stretch to edge Liberty, 4-3, on Friday afternoon at the Templeton Tennis Courts.
Trailing 3-1, the Blue Hose overcame one-set deficits on courts one, two and four to sneak by the Flames and hand them their first Big South loss of 2018.
Liberty falls to 12-9 overall and 4-1 in the Big South and sees its three-match winning streak snapped. Presbyterian, the defending Big South champion, is now 8-12 overall and 4-2 in the Big South. The Flames are tied for second place in the conference with Campbell (4-1) and a game back of Winthrop (5-0), who they will host on Sunday afternoon.
"We faced a lot of adversity today and battled hard," said Flames head coach Derek Schwandt. "We will look to improve and build on it as we get ready for Senior Day vs. Winthrop Sunday."
The Flames gained a 1-0 edge in the early going by virtue of securing the doubles point. Senior Sam Matheson and sophomore Chase Burton ran their Big South doubles mark to 6-0 with their 6-2 ousting of Jaime Castillo-Lopez and Alejandra Bejar in the No. 2 doubles bout.
Senior Diego Castano and Alex Poynter (Liberty) did the same versus Alexander Lykou and Brandon Mills (PC) in their match on court one, winning 6-2.
Needing to win three singles matches to claim the match, the Flames only managed to claim two. Daniel Stenger of the Blue Hose bested Castano of Liberty (No. 5 singles), 6-3, 6-4, evening the match at 1-all.
Burton, after falling 6-0 in the first set to Bejar on court three, turned his match around completely. The Liberty sophomore won the second and third sets by 6-1 and 6-2 counts for victory and a 2-1 Flames edge. Burton is now 4-1 in Big South singles, and the win was his 20th overall this season.
Poynter added to the lead with a two-set win on court six (7-6, 6-2) against PC's Alberto Conde. Poynter's triumph, his seventh in the last 10 singles bouts, made it 3-1 Liberty.
The Flames' Salas (No. 4 singles) won his opening set with PC's Castillo-Lopez, 6-4. However, he lost the next two, as Castillo-Lopez came out on top, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.
Presbyterian's Mills followed Castillo-Lopez's lead after his first-set loss (6-0) to Eddie Gutierrez of Liberty in which he did not win a single game. Mills took the second and third sets by 7-5 and 6-3 scores to win a 0-6, 7-5, 6-3 decision against the Flames' junior on court two, making it 3-apiece.
The match was decided in the No. 1 bout between Matheson (Liberty) and Lykou (PC). Matheson outlasted Lykou in a tiebreaker (7-6) in the first prior to consecutive 6-4 second and third set wins from Lykou to settle the final score at 4-3 in favor of the host Blue Hose.
Liberty will meet Big South leader Winthrop (9-7, 5-0 Big South) on Sunday at home with Big South Men's Tennis Championship seeding implications at stake. Sunday is also Senior Day for the program, as it will honor seniors Castano and Matheson prior to the match. The match, which will be broadcasted by the Liberty Flames Sports Network (LFSN) and carried live on the Big South Network, will start at noon at the Cook Tennis Center.
Presbyterian 4, Liberty 3
Singles competition
1. Alexander Lykou (PC) def. MATHESON, Sam (LIBERTYM) 6-7, 6-4, 6-4
2. Brandon Mills (PC) def. GUTIERREZ, Eddie (LIBERTYM) 0-6, 7-5, 6-3
3. BURTON, Chase (LIBERTYM) def. Alejandro Bejar (PC) 0-6, 6-1, 6-2
4. Jaime Castillo-Lopez (PC) def. SALAS, Vince (LIBERTYM) 4-6, 6-1, 7-5
5. Daniel Stenger (PC) def. CASTANO, Diego (LIBERTYM) 6-3, 6-4
6. POYNTER, Alex (LIBERTYM) def. Alberto Conde (PC) 6-2, 7-6
Doubles competition
1. POYNTER, Alex/CASTANO, Diego (LIBERTYM) def. Alexander Lykou/Brandon Mills (PC) 6-2
2. MATHESON, Sam/BURTON, Chase (LIBERTYM) def. Jaime Castillo-Lopez/Alejandro Bejar (PC) 6-2
3. Daniel Stenger/Will Baird (PC) vs. GUTIERREZ, Eddie/SALAS, Vince (LIBERTYM) 5-4, unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (5,3,6,4,2,1)
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
5,3,6,4,2,1