Lady Flames Host Set of Matches vs. Missouri, James Madison
1/31/2024 3:00:00 PM | Women's Tennis
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Liberty women's tennis team prepares to host challenging foes in Missouri and James Madison this weekend at the Liberty Indoor Tennis Center.
The Lady Flames (1-1) face off against Missouri (0-5) on Friday at 1 p.m. Liberty crosses paths with JMU (2-2) on Sunday with first serve set for 12 p.m.
Liberty looks to rebound after its previous match at Texas Tech, falling 6-1 on Jan. 21. Redshirt freshman Daniella O'Neill picked up Liberty's sole win, besting Jermine Sherif 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-8).
The Flames last met Missouri in 2022 with Liberty coming out on top 4-3. Liberty is currently 1-2 facing SEC programs all-time.
Liberty seeks to build on a 7-6 record when facing JMU. A former Lady Flame, Grace Hashiguchi, now an assistant coach at JMU, returns to Lynchburg after spending four years with the program (2018-21). Hashiguchi secured a 52-28 doubles record and a 33-28 doubles record, an 85-56 overall record.
Flames News & Notes
Opponents At-a-Glance
Missouri
James Madison
The Lady Flames (1-1) face off against Missouri (0-5) on Friday at 1 p.m. Liberty crosses paths with JMU (2-2) on Sunday with first serve set for 12 p.m.
Liberty looks to rebound after its previous match at Texas Tech, falling 6-1 on Jan. 21. Redshirt freshman Daniella O'Neill picked up Liberty's sole win, besting Jermine Sherif 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-8).
The Flames last met Missouri in 2022 with Liberty coming out on top 4-3. Liberty is currently 1-2 facing SEC programs all-time.
Liberty seeks to build on a 7-6 record when facing JMU. A former Lady Flame, Grace Hashiguchi, now an assistant coach at JMU, returns to Lynchburg after spending four years with the program (2018-21). Hashiguchi secured a 52-28 doubles record and a 33-28 doubles record, an 85-56 overall record.
Flames News & Notes
- Liberty enjoyed a week off from matches in preparation for its third and fourth matches of the season.
- Redshirt freshman O'Neill (2-0 singles) is the only Lady Flame with an unbeaten record in 2024.
- Liberty's No. 1 doubles pair of Maria Juliana Parra Romero and Tiffany Nguyen (1-0) came within minutes of topping Texas Tech's No. 5 duo of Metka Komac and Avelina Sayfetdinova. The match went unfinished with the Liberty pair up 5-3.
- Esther Lovato (0-2 singles) currently owns a program-record 107 career singles wins.
- Liberty began the season with Lovato in the No. 1 singles position. Lovato failed to pick up a win facing Queens. 2023's No. 1 Parra Romero (1-1 singles) moved back to the No. 1 singles slot against Texas Tech but also failed to secure a victory.
Opponents At-a-Glance
Missouri
- Seeking its first victory, Missouri is off to an 0-5 start to begin 2024. The Tigers have faced premier programs including Michigan State (lost 4-1), BYU (lost 4-1) and Arizona (lost 4-0).
- The Tigers went 11-16 (1-12 SEC record) in 2023, falling 4-0 to No. 12 seed Ole Miss in the opening round of the SEC Championship.
- Missouri has been playing Mae Canete (1-3 singles) in the No. 1 position in 2024. Canete ended the 2023 spring season as the No. 80 ranked singles player by ITA.
James Madison
- JMU has begun the 2024 season with a 2-2 record with losses to top teams including No. 12 Virginia (lost 7-0) and No. 25 Wisconsin (lost 6-1).
- The Dukes look to build off a successful 2023 spring season that saw the Dukes collect a 15-8 (9-1 SBC record). No. 2 seed JMU's season came to an end falling 4-0 to No. 1 seed Old Dominion in the Sun Belt Conference Women's Tennis Championship.
- JMU has been playing redshirt senior Cate Broerman (2-2) in the No. 1 position in its first four matches in 2024.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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