No. 48 Flames to Close Out Regular Season, Honor Seniors Against No. 71 UNCW
4/13/2024 10:12:00 PM | Men's Tennis
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Liberty men's tennis team will celebrate its senior class before it wraps up its 2024 spring regular season hosting UNCW on Saturday. Fist serve is set for 1 p.m. from the Liberty Tennis Complex.
No. 48 Liberty (16-6) wraps up a strong 2024 regular season, taking on No. 71 UNCW (13-5) on Saturday. Liberty split last week's matches, falling 4-1 to No. 39 VCU on April 5 before taking down Elon 4-3 last Sunday.
Liberty prepares to hold a pre-match ceremony to honor its three graduating seniors, Thando Longwe-Smit, Deji Thomas-Smith and Rafael Marques Da Silva. All three seniors joined the team as freshmen in the 2019-20 season and have played major roles in Liberty's success in their time with the Flames.
The Flames hope to close the spring season with an 11-1 home mark with a victory over the Seahawks. UNCW marks the 11th ranked team Liberty will face. The Flames have collected a 6-4 record against such foes.
Liberty will be meeting UNCW for the ninth time in program history. The Flames are 1-7 all-time against the Seahawks. Liberty topped UNCW 5-2 in 2021 in what was the most recent meeting between the two programs.
Senior Day Notes
Thando Longwe-Smit (11-9 singles in 2024)
Deji Thomas-Smith (14-5 singles in 2024)
Rafael Marques Da Silva (11-7 singles in 2024)
Flames News & Notes
Opponent At-a-Glance
No. 48 Liberty (16-6) wraps up a strong 2024 regular season, taking on No. 71 UNCW (13-5) on Saturday. Liberty split last week's matches, falling 4-1 to No. 39 VCU on April 5 before taking down Elon 4-3 last Sunday.
Liberty prepares to hold a pre-match ceremony to honor its three graduating seniors, Thando Longwe-Smit, Deji Thomas-Smith and Rafael Marques Da Silva. All three seniors joined the team as freshmen in the 2019-20 season and have played major roles in Liberty's success in their time with the Flames.
The Flames hope to close the spring season with an 11-1 home mark with a victory over the Seahawks. UNCW marks the 11th ranked team Liberty will face. The Flames have collected a 6-4 record against such foes.
Liberty will be meeting UNCW for the ninth time in program history. The Flames are 1-7 all-time against the Seahawks. Liberty topped UNCW 5-2 in 2021 in what was the most recent meeting between the two programs.
Senior Day Notes
Thando Longwe-Smit (11-9 singles in 2024)
- Has a career 61-37 singles record, the ninth-best winning percentage in program history at 62 percent.
- In 2021, had the fourth-best single-season singles winning percentage, winning 76.5 percent of matches.
- Owns a career 39-30 doubles record, an 18-14 record with partner Rafael Marques Da Silva.
- Clinched Liberty's second consecutive ASUN title in 2022, coming back to top No. 71 FGCU's Juan Lopez 1-6, 7-6 (1), 6-2.
- Named the Conference USA Athlete of the Month this past October.
- Went 2-0 in doubles at the 2023 Universal Tennis NIT Championship, helping the Flames secure the title.
Deji Thomas-Smith (14-5 singles in 2024)
- Has an 83-58 career singles record, tied for second-most singles wins in program history alongside Rafael Marques Da Silva.
- Has a 66-54 career doubles record and a 21-18 record with partner Christiaan Worst with the two winning the ASUN Doubles Pair of the Year, ranked as the ITA No. 6 doubles pair in the region and the VaSID All-State doubles second team in 2021.
- Clinched the doubles point and the title point for Liberty's first-ever ASUN Conference title in 2021.
- Two-time Conference USA Player of the Week this season, held an 11-match singles winning streak this spring.
- Selected to the ASUN All-Conference first team, ASUN All-Tournament team, VaSID All-State singles second team and ASUN All-Freshman team in 2021.
- CSC Academic All-District team in 2023, ITA Scholar Athlete in 2020.
Rafael Marques Da Silva (11-7 singles in 2024)
- Has a career 83-45 singles record, tied for the second most singles wins in program history alongside Deji Thomas-Smith.
- Owns the fourth best career singles winning percentage in program history, winning 65 percent of his total singles matches, also owns the seventh best single-season winning percentage, winning 75 percent of his matches in the 2020-2021.
- Has a career 66-40 doubles record, which is tied for the sixth most doubles wins in program history alongside Diego Castano, played to a 31-13 doubles record with partner Nicaise Muamba.
- Named the ASUN Men's Tennis Championship MVP and to the ASUN All-Tournament team in 2021, posting a perfect 6-0 record.
- Three-time ASUN All-Conference selection, two-time first team selection in 2021 and 2023, second team in 2022 and selected to the ASUN All-Freshman team in 2021.
- He has earned a No. 99, 102 and No. 111 ITA singles ranking.
- Named the ASUN Doubles Pair of the Year and VaSID All-State doubles second team in 2022 with partner Nicaise Muamba.
- Received back-to-back CUSA Player of the Week awards and has won seven total conference player of the week awards.
Flames News & Notes
- With a victory on Saturday, Liberty would match its win total from 2023. The Flames collected a 17-10 record last season, concluding the season with a title in the inaugural Universal Tennis NIT Championship.
- Redshirt freshman Chase Robinson (11-2) carries a seven-match singles winning streak into Saturday's contest. Robinson has played a pivotal role for the Flames, slotting into the No. 6 position for all of his matches.
- The No. 4 and 5 singles positions are the only positions in which an individual athlete does not hold at least 10 wins in. Longwe-Smit owns a 6-7 record in the No. 4 slot and Rodrigo Santiago Arraez (11-3) boasts a 6-3 mark in the No. 5 position.
- The Flames doubles teams have been on fire in recent weeks. Liberty's pairings of Romeo Hadzimehmedovic and Matija Samardzic (4-0) and Thomas-Smith and Luis Felipe Miguel (4-3) have brought new life to Liberty's doubles round.
Opponent At-a-Glance
- The No. 71 Seahawks own a 13-5 record this spring. UNCW has topped all of its similar opponents to Liberty including Georgia State (4-0 final), William & Mary (4-0 final), Richmond (4-0 final) and topped No. 50 Old Dominion 4-3 on Thursday.
- Harold Huens leads Liberty at the No. 1 singles position, owning an 8-5 record.
- UNCW dominates the No. 1 doubles (11-4) and No. 3 doubles (12-5). The Seahawks carry just a 4-9 record in the No. 2 doubles slot.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
Carl Roothman & Coach Schwandt Talk About Preparing For The CUSA Tournament
Wednesday, April 15
Coach Connell & Daniella O'Neill Garcia Give An Update On The Women's Tennis Season
Thursday, April 09
Coach Schwandt & Benjamin Sparks Talk About The Win Over Elon
Saturday, April 04
Coach Connell Talks About The Win Over Delaware
Saturday, January 24