No. 55 Flames Set Off for Pair of Ranked Matches in Florida
3/26/2024 2:55:00 PM | Men's Tennis
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The No. 55 Liberty men's tennis team embarks on a two-match trip in Florida, taking on No. 45 Florida Atlantic on Wednesday and squaring off against No. 69 South Florida on Friday. Wednesday's match is set for a 5 p.m. first serve at the Kimberly V. Strauss Tennis Center. Friday's contest is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
The No. 55 Flames (14-5) seek their fifth straight victory when they take on No. 45 FAU (12-4) and No. 69 USF (9-11). Liberty is coming off three straight home victories over in-state rivals No. 42 Old Dominion (5-2 final), Richmond (7-0 final) and No. 68 William & Mary (4-3 final).
The Flames face former Conference USA member Florida Atlantic (now in AAC) for the fourth time in program history. Liberty is 1-2 all-time against the Owls. The two squads most recently met in 2022. The No. 71 Flames fell to No. 60 FAU 4-3 at home in that contest.
Liberty matches up with South Florida, seeking its first win after two meetings all-time. The programs met in 2023 with the Flames falling at home to No. 64 USF 4-3.
Flames News & Notes
Opponents At-a-Glance
No. 45 Florida Atlantic
No. 69 South Florida
The No. 55 Flames (14-5) seek their fifth straight victory when they take on No. 45 FAU (12-4) and No. 69 USF (9-11). Liberty is coming off three straight home victories over in-state rivals No. 42 Old Dominion (5-2 final), Richmond (7-0 final) and No. 68 William & Mary (4-3 final).
The Flames face former Conference USA member Florida Atlantic (now in AAC) for the fourth time in program history. Liberty is 1-2 all-time against the Owls. The two squads most recently met in 2022. The No. 71 Flames fell to No. 60 FAU 4-3 at home in that contest.
Liberty matches up with South Florida, seeking its first win after two meetings all-time. The programs met in 2023 with the Flames falling at home to No. 64 USF 4-3.
Flames News & Notes
- Coming off a Conference USA Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week nod last Wednesday, Liberty's Rafael Marques Da Silva enjoyed a 3-1 week (2-0 singles, 1-1 doubles) in a pair of Flames victories. The senior dominated his singles match against No. 68 William & Mary's Alexandre Leblanc, 6-0, 6-1, to kick start a Liberty triumph that needed four singles match points.
- Liberty's Deji Thomas-Smith (11-4) continued his hot stretch in 2024, extending his singles winning streak to nine. The senior was the final singles match on in a 3-3 tie against the No. 68 Tribe on Saturday. With the match on the line on court three, Thomas-Smith managed to fight off match point on his way to winning three straight games to secure a 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 victory over Konstantinos Raptis. The London, United Kingdom native leads Liberty with 11 singles victories during the spring campaign.
- Liberty hopes it has found a consistent No. 3 doubles team with Thomas-Smith and freshman Romeo Hadzimehmedovic (3-3). The pair is 2-1 in its last three matches and was the only doubles team to secure a win in Saturday's 4-3 triumph over No. 68 William & Mary
- After beginning his Liberty career with a perfect 10-0 singles record, freshman Rodrigo Santiago Arraez suffered the first singles loss of the season with a 6-4, 6-4 result to the Tribe's Albert Hansen. Arraez' 10-1 start matches the previous best start to a Liberty singles career from Marques Da Silva in 2020. Marques Da Silva finished that spring 10-3 in singles.
- No. 55 Liberty is up two spots in this week's team national rankings, up from last week's ranking of No. 57.
- The Flames look for greater road success in 2024. Liberty holds just a 4-4 record away from Lynchburg, most recently going 1-2 at Diablos College Invite (March 1-3). The Flames suffered losses to No. 15 Michigan State (4-0 final) and No. 58 Boise State (4-3 final) but topped Grand Canyon 4-1 to close the trip.
Opponents At-a-Glance
No. 45 Florida Atlantic
- The former Conference USA members, now in the American Athletic Conference (AAC), have achieved a 12-4 record this spring. The Owls topped William & Mary 5-2 on Jan. 25 and have also lost to common foe Charlotte 5-2 on Feb. 3.
- Alberto Colas owns an 8-4 record in the No. 1 singles position in 2024. Florida Atlantic has won nearly two-thirds of their singles matches (.658) this spring.
- FAU has secured nine wins in the No. 1 (9-6) and No. 2 (9-3) doubles slots but has posted just a 5-7 record in the No. 3 slot.
No. 69 South Florida
- South Florida owns a 9-11 record in 2024. The Bulls have topped common foes Charlotte 6-1 on Feb. 2, Penn State 6-1 on March 6 and fell to No. 26 Princeton 4-3 in their most recent match on March 17.
- No. 48 Alvin Tudorica holds a 12-5 record in the No. 1 singles position this spring. USF's No. 3 and 4 singles slots have combined for a 15-22 record.
- The Bulls' No. 2 and 3 doubles teams own a combined 11-23 record. South Florida's doubles units are led by No. 55 Tudorica and Erik Grevelius with a 10-5 record in the No. 1 doubles slot.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
Wednesday, April 15
Thursday, April 09
Saturday, April 04
Saturday, January 24