No. 40 Liberty to Play at No. 41 Duke, Host Lipscomb and North Alabama This Week
3/30/2021 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Live Video: No. 40 Liberty at No. 41 Duke (Wednesday)
Live Scoring: No. 40 Liberty at No. 41 Duke (Wednesday)
Live Scoring: No. 40 Liberty vs. Lipscomb (Thursday)
Live Scoring: No. 40 Liberty vs. North Alabama (Saturday)
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No. 40 Liberty will play three matches this week, starting with a showdown at No. 41 Duke on Wednesday. The Flames will then welcome ASUN North Division foes Lipscomb (Thursday) and North Alabama (Saturday) to the Liberty Tennis Complex.
The Flames (13-5, 3-0 ASUN) and Blue Devils (7-7) will square off in non-conference play at the Ambler Tennis Stadium in Durham, N.C. First serve is set for 3 p.m. If inclement weather forces the match indoors, it will be played at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.
Liberty will take on the Lipscomb Bisons (6-5, 2-1 ASUN) on Thursday afternoon at the Liberty Tennis Complex. The match will begin at 3 p.m. On Saturday, the Flames will host the North Alabama Lions (3-10, 1-2 ASUN) at 2 p.m.
The Flames, who lead the ASUN North Division at 3-0, have won five straight matches and are currently ranked No. 40 in the nation, their highest position in school history. Liberty went 2-0 last weekend, defeating No. 49 UNCW 5-2 (home, Friday) and Bellarmine 7-0 (road, Sunday).
Duke is 7-7 overall and 3-3 in the ACC. The Blue Devils fell 4-3 at No. 38 Virginia Tech, last Sunday in their most recent contest.
Lipscomb, who is in second place in the ASUN North Division at 2-1, bested North Alabama 6-1 in its most recent match (last Sunday). North Alabama (1-2 ASUN) is 2-2 over its last four matches, with victories against Mississippi Valley State (March 14) and Bellarmine (March 21).
Flames News and Notes
• Nicaise Muamba of the Flames entered the Oracle/ITA Division I Men's Singles Rankings as the No. 82 player in the nation, Tuesday. Muamba is 12-4 in the No. 1 singles position and sports two ranked victories in 2021. He is the only player in school history to be nationally ranked in singles in three different seasons.
• Today's No. 82 ranking marks Muamba's ninth career weekly ranking and second-highest mark of his career.
• Liberty and Duke are meeting for the first time in men's tennis. Wednesday's match against the 41st-ranked Blue Devils will be the Flames' fifth ranked match of the season. Liberty has faced No. 22 Virginia (Jan. 17), No. 6 Texas (Jan. 23), No. 34 South Florida (March 10) and No. 49 UNCW (last Friday).
• The Flames topped the Lipscomb Bisons 5-2, March 21 at the Huston-Marsh-Griffith Tennis Center in Nashville, Tenn. Liberty is 2-0 all-time versus Lipscomb.
• Liberty swept North Alabama 7-0, March 19 at the UNA Varsity Tennis Courts in Florence, Ala. The Flames are 2-0 all-time versus the Lions.
• Liberty is one of four Virginia schools in the ITA Top-50. No. 4 Virginia, No. 32 VCU and No. 33 Virginia Tech are also nationally ranked.
• The Flames lead the conference with eight ASUN Player of the Week honors in 2021. The rest of the conference has only two combined awards.
• Liberty was selected to finish second in the ASUN Men's Tennis Preseason Coaches Poll. Lipscomb was picked to finish sixth, and North Alabama was slotted to finish seventh.
• The Flames are 7-0 at home, 6-4 on the road and 0-1 in neutral site matches, this season.
