Liberty University
Kentucky
Liberty Falls to No. 1 Seed/No. 5 Kentucky to Open ITA Kickoff Weekend
1/27/2023 4:50:44 PM | Men's Tennis
The No. 4 seed Liberty Flames opened 2023 ITA Kickoff Weekend with a loss to the No. 1 seed and No. 5-nationally ranked Kentucky Wildcats by a score of 4-0 Friday afternoon at the UK’s Boone Tennis Center.
Liberty falls to 2-2 on the year after facing its second top-five opponent of the season already. The Flames faced No. 1 Virginia, the defending national champion, at home to open the season on Jan. 19. Kentucky stays perfect with a 5-0 record.
The Flames dropped two doubles matches with the third going unfinished with Liberty tied 5-5. In four singles matches, Liberty dropped the first set but fought back to force two tiebreakers and one third set.
The match was played to clinch, and all remaining matches were suspended once Kentucky earned the fourth point.
Liberty will play the loser of No. 2 seed Notre Dame and No. 3 seed Washington, Saturday at 11 a.m. in a neutral site match in Lexington. The Irish (4-1) and Huskies (2-0) are meeting in Friday’s second match.
Thoughts From Head Coach Derek Schwandt
“The team fought for each other and pushed our standard forward today. We will prepare to reset and respond tomorrow.”
#5 Kentucky 4, Liberty 0
Singles Competition
- Liam Draxl (UK) def. Josh Wilson (LIBERTYM) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
- Alafia Ayeni (UK) def. Beau Pelletier (LIBERTYM) 6-1, 6-0
- #14 Joshua Lapadat (UK) vs. Deji Thomas-Smith (LIBERTYM) 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), unfinished
- #108 Taha Baadi (UK) def. Christiaan Worst (LIBERTYM) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
- Jaden Weekes (UK) vs. Luis Felipe Miguel (LIBERTYM) 4-5, unfinished
- Charlelie Cosnet (UK) vs. Zion Heaven (LIBERTYM) unfinished
Doubles Competition
- Alafia Ayeni/Liam Draxl (UK) def. Josh Wilson/Christiaan Worst (LIBERTYM) 6-3
- Alexandre LeBlanc/Jaden Weekes (UK) def. Zion Heaven/Beau Pelletier (LIBERTYM) 6-2
- Joshua Lapadat/JJ Mercer (UK) vs. Luis Felipe Miguel/Deji Thomas-Smith (LIBERTYM) 5-5, unfinished
Liberty 2-2
Kentucky 5-0; National ranking #5
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (2,1,4)
2023 ITA Kickoff Weekend
T-2:19
How It Happened
• Kentucky won the doubles point on the strength of victories on courts two and one.
• Liberty’s No. 3 pairing of Deji Thomas-Smith and Luis Felipe Miguel faced the Wildcat’s JJ Mercer and Joshua Lapadat, the match went unfinished with it tied at 5-5. It was the second time this season that the pair had a doubles match go unfinished, the first coming against No. 1 Virginia with the two up 5-3.|
• The Wildcats stretched the lead to two points, 2-0, after their No. 2 player Alafia Ayeni upended the Flames’ Beau Pelletier 6-1, 6-0.
• Liberty’s Josh Wilson forced a third set on court one after dropping the first but ultimately fell to Kentucky’s Liam Draxl 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. Draxl’s triumph made it a 3-0 UK lead.
• Liberty’s No. 4 Christiaan Worst mirrored Thomas Smith’s match, dropping the first set 6-3 but lost in a tiebreak in the second set to Kentucky’s No. 108 Taha Baadi to drop the match 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). The match earned Kentucky their fourth point, clinching the victory for the hosts.
• The Flames’ No. 3 Deji Thomas-Smith his first set 6-3 to the No. 14-ranked player in the nation Joshua Lapadat but earned an impressive win in a second set tiebreaker. The match went unfinished at 6-3, 6-7 (3-7).
Next Up
• Liberty (2-2) will face the loser of the No. 2 seed Notre Dame (4-1) and the No. 3 seed Washington (2-0) in a consolation contest Saturday at 11 a.m. Liberty awaits the results of the matchup as the two teams face off this evening at 5 p.m.
• The Flames have never faced Notre Dame (16-13, 5-7 ACC in 2022) in program history.
• Liberty has matched up with Washington (18-12, 2-6 PAC-12 in 2022) once, losing 4-3 on the road in 2019.
• Cracked Racquets will provide streaming coverage of the 2023 ITA Kickoff Weekend through a CrossCourt Cast on its YouTube Channel.
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:
2,1,4