Furman Drops Liberty 4-3

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Furman came back from a 2-0 deficit to best Liberty 4-3 at home on Monday. The match was played at the Mickel Tennis Center in Greenville, S.C.

Liberty (5-3) drops its second consecutive match in as many days after coming back to beat VCU 4-3 on Saturday. Furman (2-5) picks up its second win of the season.

The Lady Flames edged Furman with victories on courts one and three for the doubles point despite all three matches going past six games.

Despite Liberty grabbing a 2-0 lead in singles play, Furman stormed back with three straight victories. Esther Lovato grabbed a crucial win in the No. 2 singles match to tie the match at 3-3. Furman secured the victory on court three as Furman's Ellie Schulson got past Marina Davtyan 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.

Liberty falls to 0-5 all-time against Furman.

Thoughts from Assistant Coach Kylie Kuykendall
"We knew coming in that Furman was going to be a tough competitor, they've been the benchmark for mid-major tennis. Hats off to Furman, they were just a little bit better than us today."

On playing three consecutive matches
"Three matches in a row is a tall task for any team. We knew it was going to be a measure of our grit and resilience. We learned about ourselves and our ability to compete. There were some good things to take away from these matches."

Furman 4, Liberty 3

Singles Competition
1. M. Juliana P. Romero (LIBERTYW) def. Sara Snyder (FUR) 6-2, 6-3
2. Esther Lovato (LIBERTYW) def. Maeve Thornton (FUR) 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4
3. Ellie Schulson (FUR) def. Marina Davtyan (LIBERTYW) 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
4. Grace Thomas (FUR) def. Daniella O'Neill (LIBERTYW) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
5. Macy Hitchcock (FUR) def. Maria Turchetto (LIBERTYW) 6-1, 6-4
6. Marissa Pennings (FUR) def. Sadie Daavettila (LIBERTYW) 6-1, 6-4

Doubles Competition
1. Daniella O'Neill/Priscila Janikian (LIBERTYW) def. Jess Dawson/Maeve Thornton (FUR) 7-5
2. Macy Hitchcock/Ellie Schulson (FUR) vs. Maria Turchetto/Marina Davtyan (LIBERTYW) 6-6, unfinished
3. Sadie Daavettila/M. Juliana P. Romero (LIBERTYW) def. Sara Snyder/Grace Thomas (FUR) 7-6 (7-3)

Liberty 5-3
Furman 2-5
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (1,6,5,4,2,3)
T-3:52

How it Happened

Doubles

Liberty grabbed an initial doubles match win as Liberty's No. 59 pair of Daniella O'Neill and Priscila Janikian were able to hold off Jess Dawson and Maeve Thornton 7-5.
The Lady Flames dropped a 5-2 lead in the No. 3 doubles match but Maria Julianna Parra Romero and Sadie Daavettila were able to get past Sara Snyder and Grace Thomas in a tiebreaker 7-6 (4).
Marina Davtyan and Maria Turchetto's match on court two went unfinished with the Liberty pair facing a 5-1 deficit in a tiebreaker to Macy Hitchcock and Ellie Schulson.

Singles

Liberty jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to Parra Romero topping Snyder 6-2, 6-3 in the No. 1 singles match.
Furman grabbed the first of three consecutive singles matches with a victory in the No. 6 singles match. Pennings bested Daavettila 6-1, 6-4 despite a strong push by the latter in the second half.
The Paladins evened the match on court five. Hitchcock took down Turchetto in a mirror image of the court six result, 6-1, 6-4.
Furman grabbed the lead in the No. 4 singles match. O'Neill secured the first set but was unable to hold off Thomas who took the match 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Liberty answered back to even the match at 3-3 in the No. 2 singles. Lovato made a near comeback after being down 4-0 in the first set to Thornton. The senior battled in the second to win a tiebreaker and squeaked by for the 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 victory.
Furman secured the match-winning fourth point in a thrilling three sets on court three. Davtyan just edged Schulson 7-5 in the first set. The Paladin came back to take the second set 6-3. In the third set, Davtyan was facing a 4-3 deficit and dropped the crucial game after a controversial line call. Schulson secured the win for the Paladins with the 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 win.

Up Next
Liberty next (5-3) hits the road for another challenging road trip. The Lady Flames face Navy (9-2) on March 1 at 1 p.m. then take on Maryland (4-4) on March 2 with first serve set for noon.

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Sadie Daavettila

Marina Davtyan

Priscila Janikian

Esther Lovato

Daniella O'Neill Garcia

Maria Turchetto