Friday, February 23
Lynchburg, Va.
3:00 PM ET
Liberty University
6
vs
1
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Dartmouth
No. 74 Liberty Dominates No. 65 Dartmouth 6-1
2/23/2024 8:26:00 PM | Men's Tennis
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The No. 74 Flames tennis team cruised to a 6-1 victory over No. 65 Dartmouth on Friday evening at the Liberty Indoor Tennis Center.
Liberty improves to 8-3 in 2024 with its third consecutive victory. Dartmouth drops to 6-4 following the loss.
The Flames grabbed the doubles point with two decisive wins in the No. 1 and 2 doubles matches. Liberty earned key victories by the bottom of its lineup on courts five and six to command a 3-0 lead in the match. Thando Longwe-Smit clinched the match for the Flames with a 6-2, 7-6 (1) triumph.
"It was an awesome team effort today," Head Coach Derek Schwandt said. "I am excited about what is next for this team."
The two programs met for the first time on Friday. Liberty improves to an impressive 6-1 at home in 2024.
Thoughts from Liberty's Luis Felipe Miguel
"The team played very well from the beginning. Our coaches tell us to come out with good energy, especially with the good crowd we have, and we were able to grab the doubles. The team had good energy, discipline good discipline today."
Liberty 6, Dartmouth 1
Singles Competition
1. Luis Felipe Miguel (LIBERTYM) def. C. Guerrero Alvarez (DART) 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-7)
2. Deji Thomas-Smith (LIBERTYM) def. Hikaru Takeda (DART) 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
3. Thando Longwe-Smit (LIBERTYM) def. Henry Ren (DART) 6-2, 7-6 (7-1)
4. Miles Groom (DART) def. Matija Samardzic (LIBERTYM) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
5. R Santiago Arraez (LIBERTYM) def. Yujiro Onuma (DART) 6-2, 6-2
6. Chase Robinson (LIBERTYM) def. Alex Knox-Jones (DART) 7-6 (7-3), 6-1
Doubles Competition
1. Luis Felipe Miguel/Matija Samardzic (LIBERTYM) def. Henry Ren/Alex Knox-Jones (DART) 6-2
2. Chase Robinson/Deji Thomas-Smith (LIBERTYM) def. Hikaru Takeda/C. Guerrero Alvarez (DART) 6-3
3. Miles Groom/Waleed Qadir (DART) def. R Hadzimehmedovic/Thando Longwe-Smit (LIBERTYM) 6-1
Dartmouth 6-4; National ranking #65
Liberty 8-3; National ranking #74
Order of Finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,6,3,1,2,4)
Official: Sanders, Lunsford T-2:33
How it Happened
Doubles
Singles
Up Next
The No. 74 Flames (8-3) travel to No. 49 Charlotte (8-2) for a matchup on Sunday. First serve is set for 12 p.m. from the Halton-Wagner Tennis Complex.
Liberty improves to 8-3 in 2024 with its third consecutive victory. Dartmouth drops to 6-4 following the loss.
The Flames grabbed the doubles point with two decisive wins in the No. 1 and 2 doubles matches. Liberty earned key victories by the bottom of its lineup on courts five and six to command a 3-0 lead in the match. Thando Longwe-Smit clinched the match for the Flames with a 6-2, 7-6 (1) triumph.
"It was an awesome team effort today," Head Coach Derek Schwandt said. "I am excited about what is next for this team."
The two programs met for the first time on Friday. Liberty improves to an impressive 6-1 at home in 2024.
Thoughts from Liberty's Luis Felipe Miguel
"The team played very well from the beginning. Our coaches tell us to come out with good energy, especially with the good crowd we have, and we were able to grab the doubles. The team had good energy, discipline good discipline today."
Liberty 6, Dartmouth 1
Singles Competition
1. Luis Felipe Miguel (LIBERTYM) def. C. Guerrero Alvarez (DART) 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-7)
2. Deji Thomas-Smith (LIBERTYM) def. Hikaru Takeda (DART) 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
3. Thando Longwe-Smit (LIBERTYM) def. Henry Ren (DART) 6-2, 7-6 (7-1)
4. Miles Groom (DART) def. Matija Samardzic (LIBERTYM) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
5. R Santiago Arraez (LIBERTYM) def. Yujiro Onuma (DART) 6-2, 6-2
6. Chase Robinson (LIBERTYM) def. Alex Knox-Jones (DART) 7-6 (7-3), 6-1
Doubles Competition
1. Luis Felipe Miguel/Matija Samardzic (LIBERTYM) def. Henry Ren/Alex Knox-Jones (DART) 6-2
2. Chase Robinson/Deji Thomas-Smith (LIBERTYM) def. Hikaru Takeda/C. Guerrero Alvarez (DART) 6-3
3. Miles Groom/Waleed Qadir (DART) def. R Hadzimehmedovic/Thando Longwe-Smit (LIBERTYM) 6-1
Dartmouth 6-4; National ranking #65
Liberty 8-3; National ranking #74
Order of Finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,6,3,1,2,4)
Official: Sanders, Lunsford T-2:33
How it Happened
Doubles
- Dartmouth secured an initial doubles match on court three. Romeo Hadzimehmedovic and Thando Longwe-Smit (1-2) fell to Miles Groom and Waleed Qadir 6-1.
- Liberty evened the doubles round in the No. 1 doubles match. Luis Felipe Miguel and Matija Samardzic (9-1) stayed hot, topping Henry Ren and Alex Knox-Jones 6-2.
- The Flames secured the doubles point on court two. Deji Thomas-Smith and Chase Robinson (6-1) bested Hikaru Takeda and Carlos Guerrero Alvarez 6-2.
- Liberty secured the doubles point for the ninth match in 2024.
Singles
- Liberty snagged the first singles point in the No. 5 singles match. Rodrigo Santiago Arraez (7-) continues his torrid start to his Liberty career, cruising past Yujiro Onuma 6-2, 6-2.
- The Flames took a commanding 3-0 lead with a victory on court six. Chase Robinson (5-2) battled in the first set but dominated the tiebreaker over Knox-Jones. The redshirt freshman rode the momentum in the second set to seal the 7-6 (3), 6-1 victory.
- Longwe-Smit secured the match-winning fourth point in the No. 3 singles match. The senior battled back in the second set, down 5-2 and 6-5, to force a tiebreaker in which Longwe-Smit dominated Ren to win 6-2, 7-6 (1).
- As play continued, Miguel (6-3) bested Guerrero 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (7) in the No. 1 singles match. The sophomore improves to 2-1 in the No. 1 singles position.
- Thomas-Smith (5-4) grabbed Liberty its sixth consecutive match point on court two. The senior continues a torrid run after receiving the Conference USA Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week award on Wednesday.
- Dartmouth picked up a point in the No. 4 singles match. Samardzic (5-5) fell to Groom 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 after an impressive second set.
Up Next
The No. 74 Flames (8-3) travel to No. 49 Charlotte (8-2) for a matchup on Sunday. First serve is set for 12 p.m. from the Halton-Wagner Tennis Complex.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
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#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,1,2
#1 Singles Match
123
C. Guerrero Alvarez / 0 [DART]
370
651
#2 Singles Match
123
Hikaru Takeda / 0 [DART]
162
646
#3 Singles Match
12
Henry Ren / 0 [DART]
26
67
#4 Singles Match
123
Miles Groom / 0 [DART]
646
263
#5 Singles Match
12
Yujiro Onuma / 0 [DART]
22
66
#6 Singles Match
12
Alex Knox-Jones / 0 [DART]
61
76
Order of Finish:
5,6,3,1,2,4
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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