Liberty University
Richmond
Liberty Remains Unbeaten at Home With 5-2 Win Against Richmond
3/4/2021 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Liberty ran its home record to 5-0 with a 5-2 win over visiting Richmond, Thursday afternoon at the Liberty Tennis Complex.
The Flames improve to 7-4 in 2021 and have won six of their last seven matches overall. Today's match was Liberty's first home outdoor match of the season, after playing three indoor matches at Crosswhite Athletic Club and one at the new Liberty Indoor Tennis Center (Feb. 15).
Richmond sees its record fall to 1-3 overall and 0-3 on the road. The Flames and Spiders saw four of the six singles matches go three sets, with the two teams splitting those matches.
Liberty's Thando Longwe-Smit picked up his first career collegiate singles victory today, while Nicaise Muamba earned his 50th singles triumph as a Flame.
Thoughts From Head Coach Derek Schwandt
"Thanks to all who came out to support us in our home stadium today. It is an honor to represent Liberty."
Liberty 5, Richmond 2
Singles Competition
1. Nicaise Muamba (LIBERTYM) def. Matt Fernandez (UR) 7-5, 4-6, 6-1
2. R. Marques Da Silva (LIBERTYM) def. Daniel Kliebhan (UR) 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
3. John Walsh (UR) def. Deji Thomas-Smith (LIBERTYM) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
4. Alex Wernink (UR) def. Goncalo Ferreira (LIBERTYM) 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-0)
5. Christiaan Worst (LIBERTYM) def. Josh Keitelman (UR) 6-2, 6-1
6. Thando Longwe-Smit (LIBERTYM) def. Sebastian Miano (UR) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles Competition
1. Josh Wilson/Goncalo Ferreira (LIBERTYM) vs. Daniel Kliebhan/Josh Keitelman (UR) 3-3, unfinished
2. Deji Thomas-Smith/Christiaan Worst (LIBERTYM) def. John Walsh/Campbell Erwin (UR) 6-0
3. Nicaise Muamba/R. Marques Da Silva (LIBERTYM) def. Matt Fernandez/Alex Wernink (UR) 6-0
Richmond 1-3
Liberty 7-4
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (5,6,3,2,1,4)
Official: D Harrison/J Conley T-3:12
How It Happened
• Liberty earned the doubles point on the strength of a pair of 6-0 victories on courts two and three. In the No. 2 match, the Flames' Deji Thomas-Smith and Christiaan Worst defeated John Walsh and Campbell Erwin. Thomas-Smith and Worst improved to 3-2 at No. 2 doubles.
• Muamba and Marques Da Silva's 6-0 triumph gave Liberty the 1-0 lead. The duo bolstered its spring doubles record to a team-best 6-2. The Flames are 5-0 in matches in which they have won the doubles point.
• The Flames' Worst and Longwe-Smit both won their matches in straight sets in helping the hosts build a 3-0 lead. Worst trailed 2-1 in his opening set with Josh Keitelman (No. 5 singles) before taking 11 of the next 12 games for the victory, 6-2, 6-1. Longwe-Smit's first collegiate victory came by a 6-4, 6-2 score on court six versus the Spiders' Sebastian Miano.
• The last four matches all needed three sets (No. 1-4 singles) to settle. Richmond's Walsh bounced back from a first-set loss to Thomas-Smith (No. 3 singles) for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory, the Spiders' first point of the contest.
• Liberty's fourth point came from Marques Da Silva. The second-year Flame, playing in the No. 2 position for the first time in his career, overcame an opening set loss to Daniel Kliebhan and a 5-4 deficit in the third set. Leading 6-5 in the third and with a deuce point, Marques Da Silva served his way to the match victory, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
• Muamba and his counterpart, Fernandez, traded sets to set up a deciding third set. The Liberty junior dominated that set by a 6-1 score to take the match, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, and put the home side ahead 5-1. Muamba is 50-32 all-time in singles at Liberty, with a 28-17 dual match record and 22-15 fall tournament record. With a .610 career winning percentage, he ranks No. 6 in program history in singles winning percentage among players with at least 20 or more career victories.
• The final point of the match went to Wernink of the Spiders, who prevailed in a tiebreaker in the third set over the Flames' Ferreira to win 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (0).
• Liberty has won the last two meetings with Richmond. Prior to Thursday's 5-2 outcome, each of the previous three meetings were decided by one point (4-3).
Next Up
• Liberty will square off with Radford (2-0) on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Liberty Tennis Complex.
• The Flames and Highlanders last met on March 24, 2018, a 5-2 Liberty win in Lynchburg. Radford is Liberty's most common all-time opponent, with the two Commonwealth schools playing 39 times going back to 1988.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,3
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
5,6,3,2,1,4