Saturday, January 27
Lynchburg, Va.
12:00 PM ET
Liberty University
6
vs
1
James Madison
Newcomers Shine as Liberty Picks up Two Victories in Doubleheader
1/27/2024 9:20:00 PM | Men's Tennis
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Liberty men's tennis stretched out its roster on a Saturday doubleheader and used key contributions from 2024 newcomers to beat James Madison 6-1 and top Longwood 7-0.
The Flames improve to 4-1 with their fourth-straight victory. James Madison dropped to 1-3 and Longwood begins the season 0-1.
Four newcomers to the Flames' tennis team made huge impressions on Saturday. All three true freshmen Matija Samardzic (4-0 combined) Rodrigo Santiago Arraez (2-0) and Romeo Hadzimehmedovic (1-0 singles, 1-1 doubles), showed they could all be key pieces in 2024. Redshirt freshman Chase Robinson (2-0 singles) added a boost to the lineup. The new faces on the team gave Liberty a chance to rest key athletes in the nightcap against Longwood.
Arraez and Robinson share a 4-0 singles record to kick off the 2024 season and their Liberty spring season careers. Before this season, no freshman under head coach Derek Schwandt had achieved a 3-0 start to a spring season.
Including Robinson, four Flames, along with Thando Longwe-Smit, Luis Felipe Miguel and Samardzic, recorded two singles wins on Saturday. Two Flames, Miguel and Samardzic, enjoyed a successful 4-0 day (2-0 singles, 2-0 doubles).
Liberty boosts its record to 6-14 facing JMU and improves to 21-6 against the Lancers.
Thoughts from Assistant Coach Kyle Seelig
"It was a really good day, a long day. We came out and got done what we needed to get done. They beat a pretty decent team in JMU and improved to 4-1 beating Longwood now. It's been nice to be home for a couple of weeks and grab a couple wins before we go on the road to play Princeton."
Liberty 6, James Madison 1
Singles Competition
1. R Marques Da Silva (LIBERTYM) def. Youssef Sadek (JMU) 6-0, 6-2
2. Julian Lozano (JMU) def. Deji Thomas-Smith (LIBERTYM) 6-4, 6-4
3. Luis Felipe Miguel (LIBERTYM) def. Esteve Agusti (JMU) 6-2, 6-2
4. Thando Longwe-Smit (LIBERTYM) def. Francisco Sinopoli (JMU) 6-0, 6-1
5. Matija Samardzic (LIBERTYM) def. Markus Giersiepen (JMU) 6-3, 7-5
6. Chase Robinson (LIBERTYM) def. Harrison Lee (JMU) 6-7 (7-9), 6-2, 1-0 (11-9)
Doubles Competition
1. Esteve Agusti/Aathreya Mahesh (JMU) def. R Hadzimehmedovic/Deji Thomas-Smith (LIBERTYM) 6-2
2. Thando Longwe-Smit/R Marques Da Silva (LIBERTYM) def. Julian Lozano/Youssef Sadek (JMU) 6-0
3. Matija Samardzic/Luis Felipe Miguel (LIBERTYM) def. Edson Sanchez/Francisco Sinopoli (JMU) 7-6 (7-2)
James Madison 1-3
Liberty 3-1
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,1,3,2,5,6)
Official: R Sanders, D Amos T-3:13
How it Happened
Liberty 7, Longwood 0
Singles Competition
1. Luis Felipe Miguel (LIBERTYM) def. Timeo Puech (LU) 7-5, 6-0
2. Thando Longwe-Smit (LIBERTYM) def. Alejandro Hernandez (LU) 6-3, 6-1
3. Matija Samardzic (LIBERTYM) def. Petar Belosevic (LU) 6-4, 6-1
4. R Santiago Arraez (LIBERTYM) def. Alejandro Uribe (LU) 6-4, 6-1
5. R Hadzimehmedovic (LIBERTYM) def. Lorenzo Meschini (LU) 6-3, 6-2
6. Chase Robinson (LIBERTYM) def. Luis Reis (LU) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles Competition
1. R Hadzimehmedovic/Deji Thomas-Smith (LIBERTYM) def. Timeo Puech/Petar Belosevic (LU) 6-1
2. Luis Felipe Miguel/Matija Samardzic (LIBERTYM) def. Alejandro Hernandez/Alejandro Uribe (LU) 6-3
3. R Santiago Arraez/Chase Robinson (LIBERTYM) vs. Luis Reis/Seva Rusin (LU) 5-2, unfinished
Longwood 0-1
Liberty 4-1
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (2,5,6,1,3,4)
Official: D Amos, P Behser T-2:12
How it Happened
Up Next
Liberty hits the road for a test at Princeton (1-3) on Sunday, Feb. 4 at 10 a.m. The Flames fell 6-1 in their only previous match with the Tigers in 2019.
The Flames improve to 4-1 with their fourth-straight victory. James Madison dropped to 1-3 and Longwood begins the season 0-1.
Four newcomers to the Flames' tennis team made huge impressions on Saturday. All three true freshmen Matija Samardzic (4-0 combined) Rodrigo Santiago Arraez (2-0) and Romeo Hadzimehmedovic (1-0 singles, 1-1 doubles), showed they could all be key pieces in 2024. Redshirt freshman Chase Robinson (2-0 singles) added a boost to the lineup. The new faces on the team gave Liberty a chance to rest key athletes in the nightcap against Longwood.
Arraez and Robinson share a 4-0 singles record to kick off the 2024 season and their Liberty spring season careers. Before this season, no freshman under head coach Derek Schwandt had achieved a 3-0 start to a spring season.
Including Robinson, four Flames, along with Thando Longwe-Smit, Luis Felipe Miguel and Samardzic, recorded two singles wins on Saturday. Two Flames, Miguel and Samardzic, enjoyed a successful 4-0 day (2-0 singles, 2-0 doubles).
Liberty boosts its record to 6-14 facing JMU and improves to 21-6 against the Lancers.
Thoughts from Assistant Coach Kyle Seelig
"It was a really good day, a long day. We came out and got done what we needed to get done. They beat a pretty decent team in JMU and improved to 4-1 beating Longwood now. It's been nice to be home for a couple of weeks and grab a couple wins before we go on the road to play Princeton."
Liberty 6, James Madison 1
Singles Competition
1. R Marques Da Silva (LIBERTYM) def. Youssef Sadek (JMU) 6-0, 6-2
2. Julian Lozano (JMU) def. Deji Thomas-Smith (LIBERTYM) 6-4, 6-4
3. Luis Felipe Miguel (LIBERTYM) def. Esteve Agusti (JMU) 6-2, 6-2
4. Thando Longwe-Smit (LIBERTYM) def. Francisco Sinopoli (JMU) 6-0, 6-1
5. Matija Samardzic (LIBERTYM) def. Markus Giersiepen (JMU) 6-3, 7-5
6. Chase Robinson (LIBERTYM) def. Harrison Lee (JMU) 6-7 (7-9), 6-2, 1-0 (11-9)
Doubles Competition
1. Esteve Agusti/Aathreya Mahesh (JMU) def. R Hadzimehmedovic/Deji Thomas-Smith (LIBERTYM) 6-2
2. Thando Longwe-Smit/R Marques Da Silva (LIBERTYM) def. Julian Lozano/Youssef Sadek (JMU) 6-0
3. Matija Samardzic/Luis Felipe Miguel (LIBERTYM) def. Edson Sanchez/Francisco Sinopoli (JMU) 7-6 (7-2)
James Madison 1-3
Liberty 3-1
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,1,3,2,5,6)
Official: R Sanders, D Amos T-3:13
How it Happened
- Liberty cruised to a lead in the doubles round on court two. Rafael Marques Da Silva and Thando Longwe-Smit, who have primarily been slotted in the No. 1 slot, quickly dispatched Julian Lozano and Youssef Sadek 6-0.
- The Flames No. 1 doubles pair, Deji Thomas-Smith and Romeo Hadzimehmedovic, struggled to build rallies as Esteve Agusti and Aathreya Mahesh topped the Flames' pair 6-2.
- In the clinching match, Liberty's Luis Felipe Miguel and Matija Samardzic faced a 4-2 deficit to Edson Sanchez and Francisco Sinopoli. The Flames' duo battled throughout the match, correcting multiple unforced errors, and faced two clinching games down at 5-4 and 6-5. The duo forced a tiebreaker and sprinted ahead 4-0 to secure the doubles point and the 7-6 (7-2) final.
- Longwe-Smit cruised on court four to secure the first singles point over Sinopoli 6-0, 6-1.
- Liberty established a commanding lead on court one with Marques Da Silva rolling Sadek 6-0, 6-2.
- Liberty's No. 2 doubles pair combined to drop just three games combined in their matches.
- The Flames clinched the win in the No. 3 singles match with Miguel topping Agusti 6-2, 6-2. Miguel was involved in the clinching matches in both the singles and doubles rounds.
- James Madison grabbed its first point on court two. Thomas-Smith was unable to hold leads in both sets, falling to Lozano 6-4, 6-4.
- Court six saw a marathon match between Robinson and Lee. The two shared blows with neither establishing a lead throughout the first set and the ensuing tiebreaker as Lee pulled ahead 7-6 (9-7).
Liberty 7, Longwood 0
Singles Competition
1. Luis Felipe Miguel (LIBERTYM) def. Timeo Puech (LU) 7-5, 6-0
2. Thando Longwe-Smit (LIBERTYM) def. Alejandro Hernandez (LU) 6-3, 6-1
3. Matija Samardzic (LIBERTYM) def. Petar Belosevic (LU) 6-4, 6-1
4. R Santiago Arraez (LIBERTYM) def. Alejandro Uribe (LU) 6-4, 6-1
5. R Hadzimehmedovic (LIBERTYM) def. Lorenzo Meschini (LU) 6-3, 6-2
6. Chase Robinson (LIBERTYM) def. Luis Reis (LU) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles Competition
1. R Hadzimehmedovic/Deji Thomas-Smith (LIBERTYM) def. Timeo Puech/Petar Belosevic (LU) 6-1
2. Luis Felipe Miguel/Matija Samardzic (LIBERTYM) def. Alejandro Hernandez/Alejandro Uribe (LU) 6-3
3. R Santiago Arraez/Chase Robinson (LIBERTYM) vs. Luis Reis/Seva Rusin (LU) 5-2, unfinished
Longwood 0-1
Liberty 4-1
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (2,5,6,1,3,4)
Official: D Amos, P Behser T-2:12
How it Happened
- Liberty secured the doubles point with a pair of Liberty duos grabbing their second win of the day. On court one, Hadzimehmedovic and Thomas-Smith blistered Timeo Puech and Petar Belosovich 6-1.
- The Flames secured the doubles point in the No. 2 doubles match as Miguel and Samardzic rolled Alejandro Hernandez and Alejandro Uribe 6-3. The Liberty pair improves to 3-0 on the season together.
- Longwe-Smit (3-1) snagged the first singles point of the match, similar to the prior match against JMU. The senior sprinted by Alejandro Hernandez 6-3, 6-1. Longwe-Smit dropped just five games across the doubleheader.
- In just his second career singles match, Hadzimehmedovic (2-0) bested Lorenzo Meschini 6-3, 6-2 on court five.
- Liberty clinched the match on court six as Robinson (4-0) dispatched Luis Reis 6-2, 6-1. The redshirt freshman shares a team-high four singles victories in 2024.
- In his first career match in the No. 1 position, Miguel battled in the first set and dominated Timeo Puech in the second set to win 7-5, 6-0.
- To earn the sixth point, Samardzic topped Belosovich 6-4, 6-1 in the No. 3 singles match.
- Liberty secured the sweep on court four with Rodrigo Santiago Arraez handling Alejandro Uribe 6-4, 6-1. Arraez joins Robinson with a team-high four singles victories.
Up Next
Liberty hits the road for a test at Princeton (1-3) on Sunday, Feb. 4 at 10 a.m. The Flames fell 6-1 in their only previous match with the Tigers in 2019.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1,3
#1 Singles Match
12
Youssef Sadek / 0 [JMU]
02
66
#2 Singles Match
12
Julian Lozano / 0 [JMU]
66
44
#3 Singles Match
12
Esteve Agusti / 0 [JMU]
22
66
#4 Singles Match
12
Francisco Sinopoli / 0 [JMU]
01
66
#5 Singles Match
12
Markus Giersiepen / 0 [JMU]
35
67
#6 Singles Match
123
Harrison Lee / 0 [JMU]
720
661
Order of Finish:
4,1,3,2,5,6
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
Wednesday, April 15
Thursday, April 09
Saturday, April 04
Saturday, January 24