Friday, April 12
El Paso, Texas
12:00 PM ET/10:00 AM MT
Liberty University
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UTEP
Liberty Closes Out Regular Season Visiting UTEP and New Mexico State
4/11/2024 10:28:00 AM | Women's Tennis
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Lady Flames tennis team wraps up its regular season with a pair of road Conference USA matchups, battling UTEP on Friday and taking on New Mexico State Saturday. Friday's contest is set for a 12 p.m. ET/10 a.m. MT first serve at the El Paso Tennis Club. Saturday's tilt is scheduled for a 12 p.m. ET/10 a.m. MT start at the NM State Tennis Center.
Liberty (13-5, 3-0 CUSA) looks to continue its hot streak when it takes on UTEP (4-13, 0-3 CUSA) and New Mexico State (5-12, 2-2 CUSA). The Lady Flames have won their past six consecutive matches, including all three of their CUSA matchups. Each match finished with a 4-0 final score.
The team's last loss came on March 13 in a neutral site match, 4-2 against Wichita State (played in Palm Springs, Calif.) Liberty most recently took down CUSA foes Middle Tennessee 4-0 (last Friday), and WKU 4-0 (last Saturday).
The Lady Flames have an opportunity to secure their second-ever undefeated conference record since they went 6-0 in Atlantic Sun play in 2021.
Liberty will be meeting both UTEP and New Mexico State for the first time in program history this weekend.
Lady Flames News & Notes
Opponents At-a-Glance
UTEP
New Mexico State
Liberty (13-5, 3-0 CUSA) looks to continue its hot streak when it takes on UTEP (4-13, 0-3 CUSA) and New Mexico State (5-12, 2-2 CUSA). The Lady Flames have won their past six consecutive matches, including all three of their CUSA matchups. Each match finished with a 4-0 final score.
The team's last loss came on March 13 in a neutral site match, 4-2 against Wichita State (played in Palm Springs, Calif.) Liberty most recently took down CUSA foes Middle Tennessee 4-0 (last Friday), and WKU 4-0 (last Saturday).
The Lady Flames have an opportunity to secure their second-ever undefeated conference record since they went 6-0 in Atlantic Sun play in 2021.
Liberty will be meeting both UTEP and New Mexico State for the first time in program history this weekend.
Lady Flames News & Notes
- With two victories this weekend, Liberty could own a 5-0 CUSA record in its debut season in Conference USA. In its past two conference debut seasons, the Lady Flames went 0-7 in the program's inception in 2001, playing in the Big South, and collected a 6-1 mark in its opening season in the ASUN in 2019.
- Despite the winning streak, Liberty dropped out of the ITA national rankings for the first time this season. The Lady Flames were ranked as high as No. 54 on Feb. 20 (when rankings expanded to 75 teams) and were ranked for a program-record seven consecutive weeks.
- Liberty holds a 4-5 (3-3 road, 1-2 neutral) record playing away from Lynchburg this season.
- Esther Lovato looks to add onto her program-record 118 career singles wins and extend her seven-match singles winning streak. The senior leads Liberty with an 11-4 singles record this spring.
- Maria Juliana Parra Romero carries a four-match win streak and has not lost a singles match since falling to Maryland's Selma Cadar on March 2.
Opponents At-a-Glance
UTEP
- The Miners own a 4-13 record and an 0-3 CUSA mark in 2024. UTEP has fallen to common CUSA foes with Liberty, including Sam Houston (4-3 final) and Middle Tennessee (4-1 final).
- No UTEP singles player has achieved more than five singles wins this spring.
- The Miners have performed well in the No. 2 doubles position (10-6). The pair of Carlotta Mencaglia and Hanna Telzynska have a 10-5 record in the No. 2 slot.
New Mexico State
- The Aggies have collected a 5-12 mark and a 2-2 CUSA record this season. New Mexico State has faced North Texas, a similar non-conference foe to Liberty, falling 5-2 to the Mean Green. The Aggies topped Middle Tennessee 4-2 on March 29 and Sam Houston 4-0 on April 4.
- Ana Pinaieva leads the Aggies with a 10-5 record including a team-best 6-4 mark in the No. 1 singles position.
- New Mexico State secures its best doubles production from the No. 2 slot (11-5). The pair of Natsuki Nishimura and Veleriia Ivanovskaia pace New Mexico State with a 5-1 doubles mark in the position.
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Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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