Liberty University
Penn State
Liberty Earns Ranked Win Over No. 46 Penn State, 6-1, to Open Two-Match Weekend
2/24/2023 10:04:00 PM | Men's Tennis
The Liberty Flames men's tennis team got a big win Friday night, topping the No. 46 Penn State Nittany Lions 6-1.
The Flames won two doubles matches to jump out ahead and got key singles win from Luis Felipe Miguel, Josh Wilson, Christiaan Worst, Beau Pelletier and Deji Thomas-Smith to give the Flames the win.
The win is the second victory for the Flames over Penn State. Liberty defeated Penn State 5-2 on Feb. 21, 2020 for their first-ever victory over the Nittany Lions. The series tally is now in Liberty's favor 2-1.
Liberty earned the doubles point with big wins on court one and two. Liberty carried that momentum into the singles round, winning five of the six singles matches.
The match was the first of the weekend for both teams, as each are due to face No. 64 South Florida later this weekend. The Flames face the Bulls on Sunday at 1 p.m., and the the Nittany Lions will see them Saturday.
Thoughts From Head Coach Derek Schwandt
"We will continue to push ourselves outside of the comfort zone. Thanks to Flames tennis fans for a great atmosphere tonight."
Liberty 6, #46 Penn State 1
Singles Competition
- Josh Wilson (LIBERTYM) def. Charl Morgan (PSU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
- Loren Byers (PSU) def. R. Marques Da Silva (LIBERTYM) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3
- Deji Thomas-Smith (LIBERTYM) def. Miko Eala (PSU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
- Christiaan Worst (LIBERTYM) def. Sam Bossem (PSU) 7-5, 6-3
- Beau Pelletier (LIBERTYM) def. Malik Bhatnagar (PSU) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
- Luis Felipe Miguel (LIBERTYM) def. Ismail Saadi (PSU) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles Competition
- Josh Wilson/Christiaan Worst (LIBERTYM) def. Malik Bhatnagar/Charl Morgan (PSU) 6-3
- Deji Thomas-Smith/Luis Felipe Miguel (LIBERTYM) def. Loren Byers/Sam Bossem (PSU) 6-4
- Beau Pelletier/R. Marques Da Silva (LIBERTYM) vs. Miko Eala/Stefan Simeunovic (PSU) 4-5, unfinished
Penn State 10-2; National ranking #46
Liberty 4-5
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (6,2,1,4,5,3)
Official: P Williams/M Mayrosh T-2:59
How It Happened
• To earn the vital doubles point, Liberty's No. 1 doubles pair of Josh Wilson and Christiaan Worst breezed to a 6-3 win over Penn State's Malik Bhatnagar and Charl Morgan. Court two followed suit with the duo of Deji Thomas-Smith and Luis Felipe Miguel getting a crucial break at 3-3 that carried them to a 6-4 win over Loren Byers and Sam Bossem.
• Liberty freshman Miguel cruised through his match on court six with Ismail Saadi 6-2, 6-1 to earn Liberty its first singles point of the night and push the home lead to 2-0. The freshman improved to 5-3 in his debut season.
• The Flames' No. 1 Josh Wilson got a pivotal third point against Penn State's Charl Morgan after winning the first set in a tiebreaker and coming back from down 4-1 in the second set. The final score of the match was 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. Wilson has been slotted in the Flames' No. 1 position all spring, climbing to a 5-4 record.
• Liberty got the match-clinching point on court four thanks to Worst topping the Nittany Lions' Bossem 7-5, 6-3. Worst also goes to 5-4 on the season.
• In his first singles action of the season, Liberty junior Rafael Marques Da Silva fell in his match on court two to the Nittany Lions' Byers 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. Marques Da Silva returned to action Feb. 10 but had only seen the court in doubles, splitting his two appearances 1-1 against Clemson and VCU.
• Flames senior Beau Pelletier won his second straight match, besting Penn State's Bhatnagar 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) on court five. The senior bolseters his record to 3-4 on the spring season.
• Liberty's No. 3 Thomas-Smith put the exclamation point on the match with the sixth point of the night, beating Penn State's Miko Eala 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
• This is the Flames' first ranked win since defeating No. 71 FGCU 4-2 in the 2022 ASUN Men's Tennis Championship final. Liberty is 1-2 against ranked competition in 2023.
Next Up
• Liberty prepares to face off with the No. 64 South Florida Bulls (4-7). The match is scheduled to be the first outdoor match of the season for the Flames. First serve is set for Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Liberty Tennis Complex.
• The Flames came up just short in their first-ever matchup with USF on March 10, 2021, falling 4-3 to the No. 34 Bulls.
Main Photo at Top of Story: Josh Wilson (left) and Christiaan Worst (right)
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,2
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
6,2,1,4,5,3
Players Mentioned
