Liberty University
Austin Peay
Davtyan’s Clutch Victory Sends Lady Flames to ASUN Championship Semifinals
4/16/2023 7:12:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Marina Davtyan dug deep in a match that featured two tiebreakers to vault the No. 5 seeded Lady Flames past quarterfinal host and No. 4 seed Austin Peay, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon.
Liberty advances to the ASUN Championship semifinals that will be hosted by North Florida on Friday. Sunday's match was held at Austin Peay's Governors Tennis Courts.
The Lady Flames (17-8) took a tight doubles point after court one went to a close tiebreaker. Liberty and Austin Peay (16-7) traded singles matches until the overall match was tied at 3-3. Davtyan pushed through two tiebreakers, and with all eyes on her, pulled out the match-clinching fourth point with a 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-4 triumph over the Governors' Denise Torrealba at No. 2 singles.
Liberty advances to the ASUN Championship semifinals for the fourth straight year that the tournament has been held. Liberty enters the semifinal rounds seeking its first ASUN Championship title in program history.
Sunday was the first meeting between Liberty and Austin Peay after the Governors joined the conference last fall.
The Lady Flames will meet tournament host and No. 1 seed North Florida on Friday at 2:30 p.m. from the UNF Tennis Complex in Jacksonville, Fla.
Thoughts From Head Coach Jeff Maren
"I'm so immensely proud of our girls! We wanted to use our God-given gifts to the max, and they did! Masha's mental strength carried her through an epic final match. And the team was so supportive of each other. We've faced a lot of adversity this year, but I believe that the adversity has made us stronger. I want to give God all of the credit and honor today!"
Liberty 4, Austin Peay 3
Singles Competition
- M. Juliana P. Romero (LIBERTYW) def. LEDER, Jana (APSU) 6-1, 0-6, 6-4
- Marina Davtyan (LIBERTYW) def. TORREALBA, Denise (APSU) 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-4
- Esther Lovato (LIBERTYW) def. HEFTI, Melody (APSU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
- BARANOV, Sophia (APSU) def. Tiffany Nguyen (LIBERTYW) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
- CHENG, Yu-Hua (APSU) def. Elsa Kirch (LIBERTYW) 6-1, 6-1
- FONTANA, Asia (APSU) def. Maretha Burger (LIBERTYW) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
Doubles Competition
- Tiffany Nguyen/M. Juliana P. Romero (LIBERTYW) def. LEDER, Jana/HEFTI, Melody (APSU) 7-6 (7-4)
- TORREALBA, Denise/BARANOV, Sophia (APSU) def. Maretha Burger/Bruna Sampaio (LIBERTYW) 6-1
- Marina Davtyan/Esther Lovato (LIBERTYW) def. FONTANA, Asia/CHENG, Yu-Hua (APSU) 6-4
Liberty 17-8
Austin Peay 16-7
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (5,1,4,3,6,2)
How It Happened
• After dropping an initial doubles match on court two, Liberty's Esther Lovato and Marina Davtyan (12-2) came through with a 6-4 victory over Yu-Hua Cheng and Asia Fontana.
• The doubles point came down to a tiebreaker in the No. 1 doubles match between Maria Julianna Parra Romero and Tiffany Nguyen taking on Jana Leder and Melody Hefti. The Liberty duo was going game-for-game and point-for-point with its opponent before pulling away with three straight points to earn a 7-6 (4) triumph. The pair improves to 8-1 together this spring.
• Austin Peay tied the overall match with a 6-1, 6-1 win on court five with Elsa Kirch taking the loss to Cheng.
• The Lady Flames went up 2-1 after Parra Romero (16-3) edged Leder in the No. 1 singles match in three sets. The sophomore comfortably took the first set 6-1 before Leder responded with her own 6-0 second-set win. Parra Romero jumped out to a lead in the third, which she never relinquished en route to taking the match 6-1, 0-6, 6-4.
• The Governors tied the match right back at 2-2 after securing a win on court four as Nguyen (15-6) was defeated by Sophia Baranov in three sets 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
• Esther Lovato (18-4) gave Liberty a 3-2 match lead with a victory in the No. 3 singles match over Hefti. Lovato came back after dropping the first set, losing just five games in the final two sets to grab the 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win.
• Austin Peay tied the overall match again at 3-3 tie on court six after Maretha Burger was defeated by in a third set by Asia Fontana 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
• The match came down to the No. 2 singles match in an intense battle between Davtyan and Torrealba. The first set could not have been any closer ,as Torrealba took the initial set in a tiebreaker 7-6 (5). The second set would also reach a tight tiebreaker which favored Liberty 7-6 (3).
• Davtyan jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the third set, but Torrealba responded with three of her own. At 4-3 in the set, Davtyan battled back from being down 0-40 with four clutch points to gain a 5-3 advantage. The junior ended up taking the intense match 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-4 for her 14th and most significant win of the season.
Next Up
• Following today's thrilling win, Liberty has secured a spot in the ASUN Championship semifinals, where it will face tournament host and No. 1 seed North Florida (16-6). First serve is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Friday at the UNF Tennis Complex in Jacksonville, Fla.
• Liberty is 1-1 all-time versus UNF, falling in its last match against the Ospreys at home in 2022 by a 6-1 count.
Main Photo at Top of Story: Marina Davtyan
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Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,3,1
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
5,1,4,3,6,2
Players Mentioned
