Liberty Rolls Temple on Final Day of Penn Invitational
9/17/2023 4:03:00 PM | Men's Tennis
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Flames tennis team rebounded by taking seven of 11 matches from Temple to finish out the Penn Invitational, Sunday at the Hamlin Tennis Center. Liberty secured two of three doubles matches in each hidden dual match across the three-day event.
Liberty secured a .667 win percentage across all matches, sharing the same percentage in both singles and doubles matches. Liberty owns a 20-10 overall match record (6-3 doubles, 14-7 singles) across the tournament.
Thando Longwe-Smit went 6-0 (3-0 doubles, 3-0 singles) at the Penn Invitational, the only Flame with a perfect record. The doubles pairing of Longwe-Smit and Rafael Marques Da Silva went 3-0 in doubles across the event. Marques Da Silva secured a 5-1 record (2-1 singles) across the invitational.
Chase Robinson, a redshirt freshman, posted a 5-1 record over the weekend. Robinson was 3-0 in singles play.
Thoughts from Head Coach Derek Schwandt
"The team finished strong with a high work ethic, passion and competed today. We are thankful for all the competition this weekend at Penn, and we are excited to get back to work this week."
Key Stats and Notes
Liberty has two weeks before it heads to the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla., starting on Oct. 1. The participants in the event will be announced at a later date.
Liberty secured a .667 win percentage across all matches, sharing the same percentage in both singles and doubles matches. Liberty owns a 20-10 overall match record (6-3 doubles, 14-7 singles) across the tournament.
Thando Longwe-Smit went 6-0 (3-0 doubles, 3-0 singles) at the Penn Invitational, the only Flame with a perfect record. The doubles pairing of Longwe-Smit and Rafael Marques Da Silva went 3-0 in doubles across the event. Marques Da Silva secured a 5-1 record (2-1 singles) across the invitational.
Chase Robinson, a redshirt freshman, posted a 5-1 record over the weekend. Robinson was 3-0 in singles play.
Thoughts from Head Coach Derek Schwandt
"The team finished strong with a high work ethic, passion and competed today. We are thankful for all the competition this weekend at Penn, and we are excited to get back to work this week."
Key Stats and Notes
- Liberty's Marques Da Silva went 5-1 across the event. The senior was 3-0 in doubles with partner Longwe-Smit and was 2-1 in singles matches. The undefeated duo topped Gregoire Barety and Dante Russo of the Temple Owls by a 6-3 count
- In his first fall tournament after joining the Flames in January, Luis Felipe Miguel, paired with Deji Thomas-Smith, took down the Owls' Aayush Bhat and Pranav Nemani 6-2.
- A pair of freshmen, Robinson (redshirt) and Matija Samardzic, were 1-2 in doubles across the event. The duo was defeated by Adam Kresina and Erdin Er 6-4 on Sunday.
- Marques Da Silva took care of Baret in both doubles and singles, besting the Temple senior 6-3, 6-2. The senior went 2-1 in singles.
- Temple's Russo managed to best Miguel 6-4, 6-3. Miguel recorded a 3-3 record over the weekend.
- Thomas-Smith was taken down by Er 6-1, 6-2. The senior along, with his doubles partner, was 3-3 at the Penn Invitational.
- Longwe-Smit rolled Adam Kresina 7-6 (4), 6-2 to secure a perfect 6-0 weekend.
- Robinson bested Maj Tomic 6-4, 6-2, for his fifth victory of the event.
- Samardzic, a true freshman, fell to Bhat 6-2, 6-4. He managed a 2-4 record for the weekend.
- Ernst Gouws was tied 5-5 with Namani when the match was suspended due to a retirement.
Liberty has two weeks before it heads to the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla., starting on Oct. 1. The participants in the event will be announced at a later date.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Tennis
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