No. 66 Liberty to Host No. 32 Charlotte, William & Mary Over Weekend
3/2/2023 12:47:57 PM | Women's Tennis
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The No. 66 Liberty Lady Flames tennis team welcomes the No. 32 Charlotte 49ers and William & Mary Tribe to Lynchburg over the weekend.
Liberty (8-3) and Charlotte (9-4) will square off on Friday afternoon. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Liberty Indoor Tennis Center. The Lady Flames will return to action on Sunday at 1 p.m. against the William & Mary Tribe (6-2). That match will be held outside at the Liberty Tennis Complex.
The Lady Flames earned their highest national ranking in program history on Tuesday, checking in at No. 66 in the ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings. This is Liberty’s second all-time ranking and first in nearly nine years. Liberty received a No. 74 ranking on March 4, 2014.
Charlotte brings its own highest ranking in program history to town along with carrying the No. 55 doubles pairing of Marguax Maquet and Lucia Quiterio.
The Lady Flames are looking to get the upper hand in the series with Charlotte as they are currently at a 3-3 stalemate. The two programs last met in 2022, with then-No. 38 Charlotte getting the 4-0 sweep over Liberty at home.
This will be the fifth all-time meeting between Liberty and William & Mary. The Lady Flames hold a 3-1 series edge and won last year’s matchup (March 5, 2022) by a 4-3 score on the road.
Liberty is currently 5-1 playing at home and looks to continue that success on Friday.
Lady Flames News and Notes
• Liberty junior Esther Lovato (8-0) looks to continue her unbeaten season as she closes in on the program record for all time wins that stands at 92 set by Evangeline Crist. Lovato currently sits at 86 wins and needs six wins to tie and seven for the record.
• Liberty has relied upon its No. 1 singles player Maria Juliana Parra Romero to lead them to its current ranking. The sophomore is currently 7-1 and has played all her matches so far this season in the No. 1 position.
• Liberty’s No. 1 doubles pair of Parra Romero and Alexandra Almborg (2-2) will likely face the task of taking on the 49ers’ No. 55 pair of Maquet and Quiterio (7-3).
• Liberty’s most successful doubles pair this season has been Tiffany Nguyen and Micaela Ode Mitre (5-5). Nguyen was paired with Maretha Burger last Saturday against Navy, clinching the point on court two with a 6-3 defeat of Casey Accola and Sia Chaudry.
• Liberty junior Nguyen (7-1 singles) has continued to play a pivotal role in Liberty wins this season. Nguyen is coming off a tasking win over Navy’s Chaudry, coming out on top after a third set tiebreaker 3-6, 7-6 (3), 1-0 (7).
• Liberty has yet to lose a match from the No. 4 position over the course of the spring. The No. 4 spot has seen a combination of Marina Davytan, Lovato and Nguyen.
• Both the Liberty men’s and women’s tennis teams will face Charlotte at home this week. The men, who are ranked No. 72 in the nation, are set to play the No. 70 49ers on Saturday at 2 p.m.
