Liberty University
No. 41 Duke
No. 40 Liberty Sees Five-Match Winning Streak End at No. 41 Duke
3/31/2021 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
No. 40-ranked Liberty saw its five-match winning streak halted with a 5-2 setback at No. 41 Duke, Wednesday afternoon at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.
The Blue Devils improve to 8-7 overall and 5-0 at home and also snap a two-match losing skid. Meanwhile, the Flames see their record drop to 13-6, including a 6-5 road record, after suffering their first-ever loss as a ranked team.
Liberty's Nicaise Muamba, who cracked into the Oracle/ITA Division I Men's Singles Rankings at No. 82 this week, earned his third ranked win of the season today.
#41 Duke 5, #40 Liberty 2
Singles Competition
1. #82 Nicaise Muamba (LIBERTYM) def. #115 Garrett Johns (DU) 6-3, 6-2
2. Sean Sculley (DU) def. R. Marques Da Silva (LIBERTYM) 7-5, 6-2
3. #102 Edu Guell (DU) def. Deji Thomas-Smith (LIBERTYM) 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-7)
4. #119 Andrew Zhang (DU) def. Christiaan Worst (LIBERTYM) 6-1, 6-3
5. Luca Keist (DU) def. Thando Longwe-Smit (LIBERTYM) 6-3, 6-2
6. Goncalo Ferreira (LIBERTYM) def. Samuel Rubell (DU) 6-3, 7-5
Doubles Competition
1. #15 Sean Sculley/Garrett Johns (DU) def. Christiaan Worst/Deji Thomas-Smith (LIBERTYM) 6-4
2. Michael Heller/Andrew Zhang (DU) def. R. Marques Da Silva/Nicaise Muamba (LIBERTYM) 6-3
3. Josh Wilson/Steve Mundt (LIBERTYM) def. Edu Guell/Luca Keist (DU) 6-3
Liberty 13-6; National ranking #40
Duke 8-7; National ranking #41
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,4,1,6,2,3)
T-2:43
How It Happened
• Liberty lost the doubles point for the first time since March 10. The Flames' Josh Wilson and Steve Mundt, teamed up together for the first time this season, bested Edu Guell and Keist 6-3 in the No. 3 doubles match. Wilson and Mundt trailed 2-1 early but bounced back for the win.
• Duke's two doubles victories came from its nationally-ranked No. 1 doubles unit, No. 15 Sean Sculley and Garrett Johns, and its No. 2 duo, Michael Heller and Andrew Zhang. Sculley and Johns edged Liberty's Christiaan Worst and Deji Thomas-Smith 6-4. Heller and Zhang topped the Flames' most successful unit this spring, Rafael Marques Da Silva and Nicaise Muamba, to secure the first point of the day and a 1-0 lead for the hosts.
• Duke's singles lineup, which featured three ranked players, got off to a strong start with victories on courts five and four from Keist and No. 119 Zhang. Keist won in straight sets over Thando Longwe-Smit of the Flames on court five, 6-3, 6-2. Zhang's two-set decision (6-1, 6-3) against Worst in the No. 4 singles contest brought the Blue Devils within a point of victory, 3-0.
• Liberty rallied with victories from No. 82 Muamba (No. 1) and Goncalo Ferreira (No. 6), drawing within a point of tying the match (3-2). Muamba defeated his counterpart, No. 115 Johns, in consecutive sets (6-3, 6-2), improving to 3-1 against ranked opponents this season. Ferreira overcame a 4-0 second-set deficit to Samuel Rubell and closed his match in two sets, 6-3, 7-5.
• The Blue Devils' Sculley clinched the match for the home side with his 7-5, 6-2 result over Marques Da Silva at No. 2 singles. Duke's fifth and final point came from No. 102 Guell, a come-from-behind winner (4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-7)) versus Thomas-Smith on court three. Guell trailed 5-3 in set two before rallying to win the next four games and the third set super tiebreaker by a 10-7 count.
• Duke was the fifth nationally-ranked opponent Liberty has faced in 2021. The Flames are 1-4 against ranked foes, this spring.
• This was the first-ever meeting between the Flames and Blue Devils despite the two schools being separated by only 115 miles.
• Today's match at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center was Liberty's first indoor match since Feb. 21, a 4-3 victory over William & Mary at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center in Williamsburg, Va.
• Liberty's Marques Da Silva was named the ASUN Men's Tennis Player of the Week on Wednesday afternoon prior to the match. Marques Da Silva is now a four-time conference player of the week this season. Marques Da Silva (13-5) and Muamba (13-4) share the team lead with 13 singles victories each.
Next Up
• Liberty will face Lipscomb (6-5, 2-1 ASUN) in an ASUN home match, Thursday. First serve between the Flames and Bisons is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Liberty Tennis Complex. The Flames lead the ASUN North Division at 3-0, while Lipscomb is a game back in the standings at 2-1.
• The Flames defeated the Bisons 5-2, March 21 at the Huston-Marsh-Griffith Tennis Center in Nashville, Tenn. Liberty is 2-0 all-time against Lipscomb.
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:
5,4,1,6,2,3