Liberty Set to Face FGCU in ASUN Women's Tennis Championship Semifinals
4/21/2021 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Live Scoring: Liberty vs. FGCU (Friday)
Live Scoring: TBA (Saturday)
Live Video: Championship Match (Saturday) (ESPN+)
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The Liberty women's tennis team will take on the FGCU Eagles in the 2021 ASUN Women's Tennis Championship semifinal round on Friday afternoon. First serve is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at the UNF Tennis Complex in Jacksonville, Fla.
Liberty brings an 18-6 overall record into the weekend. The Lady Flames earned the No. 1 seed in the ASUN North Division by posting a 6-0 record in regular season conference matches. Liberty bested the North Division's No. 4 seed, Bellarmine, last Saturday by a 4-0 score to move on to the semifinals.
Meanwhile, FGCU (7-6) is the No. 2 seed from the ASUN South Division. The Eagles finished with a 4-2 mark in the South Division. FGCU topped the South Division's No. 3 seed, Kennesaw State, last Sunday by a 4-2 score to advance to the semifinal round.
The winner of Friday afternoon's match will face the victor from the other semifinal between ASUN South Division No. 1 seed North Florida (15-7) and ASUN North Division No. 2 seed Lipscomb (10-8) in Saturday's championship match. That match will take place at 1 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.
2021 ASUN Women's Tennis Championship – UNF Tennis Complex – Jacksonville, Fla.
Friday, April 23 – Semifinals
No. 1 North seed Liberty (18-6) vs. No. 2 South seed FGCU (7-6), 2:30 p.m.
No. 1 South seed North Florida (15-7) vs. No. 2 North seed Lipscomb (10-8), 5 p.m.
Saturday, April 24 – Final
Winners of semifinals, 1 p.m. – ESPN+
History in ASUN Championship
The Lady Flames are making their second appearance in the ASUN Championship. Liberty fell 4-3 to FGCU in the 2019 ASUN Championship semifinal round. The 2020 ASUN Championship was not contested due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Lady Flames picked up their first-ever win in the ASUN Tournament last weekend, besting Bellarmine 4-0 in the quarterfinals.
At the beginning of the season, Liberty was picked to finish second in the conference's preseason poll, behind only five-time defending ASUN Champion North Florida.
Series History vs. the Field
Liberty vs. FGCU: FGCU leads 3-0
Last Meeting: FGCU defeated Liberty 5-2 this spring (Feb. 19) in what was a non-conference match (due to divisional play this season) in Fort Myers, Fla.
Liberty vs. North Florida: Liberty leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Liberty defeated North Florida 4-3 on April 6, 2019 in Lynchburg, Va., taking over first place in the ASUN.
Liberty vs. Lipscomb: Liberty leads 4-0
Last Meeting: Liberty defeated Lipscomb twice this spring by 4-3 scores, once on March 21 (road) and the other time on April 1 (home).
Lady Flames News and Notes
• Liberty is seeking its first conference title in school history. The Lady Flames finished as the Big South Championship runner-up twice (2016, 2018).
• With 18 victories, the Lady Flames are one win shy of tying the program record for wins in a season. The 2015 squad holds the school record for victories with 19.
• Liberty has won 15 or more matches in six of the past eight seasons.
• Liberty's Esther Lovato enters the weekend with a 22-1 singles mark. She garnered her first career national ranking, a No. 123 ranking, on March 24. In two seasons with the Lady Flames, she is a combined 40-6 overall in singles and 31-3 in spring singles matches.
• The Lady Flames' Tiffany Nguyen earned ASUN Player of the Week honors on Feb. 17. ASUN All-Conference awards will come out next week following the championship.
• Collectively, Liberty boasts a .723 winning percentage in doubles (47-18) and a .659 winning percentage (91-47) in singles.
• Liberty's top doubles team this spring has been its No. 2 unit, Nguyen and Micaela Ode Mitre (14-5). Its No. 1 unit, Alexandra Almborg and Eloise Saraty, sports a 13-9 record. The Lady Flames' No. 3 doubles team, Grace Hashiguchi and Esther Lovato, is 5-2.
• Lovato (22-1), Ode Mitre (15-7), Nguyen (10-3), Almborg (10-10) and Marina Davtyan (10-3) have each won 10 or more singles matches. Lovato and Ode Mitre were both a perfect 6-0 in ASUN contests during the regular season.
• Liberty finished 10-2 at home this season. The Lady Flames are 7-4 on the road and 1-0 in neutral site contests.
