Liberty Tennis Invited to Compete at the 2024 UTR Sports NIT Championship
5/1/2024 11:07:00 AM | Men's Tennis, Women's Tennis
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Both the Liberty men's and women's tennis teams have received an invite and plan to participate in the 2024 UTR Sports NIT Championship. The eight-team postseason tournaments will be in their second year. This year's event will held in Bradenton, Fla. at the IMG Academy from this upcoming Sunday through next Wednesday (May 5-8).
The men's tennis team comes back to defend its 2023 title, having secured the first-ever NIT Championship title in the inaugural event last year. The women's tennis team did not compete in the tournament last season. The Lady Flames are competing in their first-ever postseason event.
Liberty is one of three schools including Pacific and Tulsa to send both its men's and women's tennis programs.
The eight-team field for the men's bracket with No. 55 Liberty includes No. 56 Pacific, No. 60 Santa Clara, No. 67 Northwestern, No. 69 Tulsa, North Alabama, Eastern Kentucky and Saint Louis. The No. 3 seed Flames will kick off the event in a matchup with North Alabama (16-8) on Sunday
The bracket for the women's bracket alongside Liberty contains Colorado, West Virginia, Appalachian State, Wyoming, Pacific and Saint Mary's. The Lady Flames will meet Appalachian State (15-10) in the opening round on Monday
The Flames took down three programs including two ranked foes, No. 60 Denver (5-0 final) and No. 69 Vanderbilt (4-1 final), on their path to the title a season ago. Three Flames from last season's title run, Luis Felipe Miguel, Deji Thomas-Smith and Thando Longwe-Smit, return to help defend the championship.
Liberty Men's Tennis | 17-8 | CUSA Runner-Up
Liberty Women's Tennis | 17-6 (5-0 CUSA) | CUSA Runner-Up
The men's tennis team comes back to defend its 2023 title, having secured the first-ever NIT Championship title in the inaugural event last year. The women's tennis team did not compete in the tournament last season. The Lady Flames are competing in their first-ever postseason event.
Liberty is one of three schools including Pacific and Tulsa to send both its men's and women's tennis programs.
The eight-team field for the men's bracket with No. 55 Liberty includes No. 56 Pacific, No. 60 Santa Clara, No. 67 Northwestern, No. 69 Tulsa, North Alabama, Eastern Kentucky and Saint Louis. The No. 3 seed Flames will kick off the event in a matchup with North Alabama (16-8) on Sunday
The bracket for the women's bracket alongside Liberty contains Colorado, West Virginia, Appalachian State, Wyoming, Pacific and Saint Mary's. The Lady Flames will meet Appalachian State (15-10) in the opening round on Monday
The Flames took down three programs including two ranked foes, No. 60 Denver (5-0 final) and No. 69 Vanderbilt (4-1 final), on their path to the title a season ago. Three Flames from last season's title run, Luis Felipe Miguel, Deji Thomas-Smith and Thando Longwe-Smit, return to help defend the championship.
Liberty Men's Tennis | 17-8 | CUSA Runner-Up
- Fell 4-2 to No. 1 seed and No. 34 Middle Tennessee in the 2024 Conference USA Championship final. The Flames topped No. 3 seed Jax State 4-1 in the semifinal round.
- Liberty finished the season with a 10-2 home record and a 7-6 mark away from Lynchburg (5-3 road, 1-2 neutral).
- The Flames have battled 10 programs that currently carry an ITA national ranking. The Flames are 3-7 in such matches. Liberty also topped foes that carried a ranking at the time of the match, including besting No. 65 Dartmouth 6-1 (Feb. 23), topping No. 68 William & Mary 4-3 (March 23) and besting No. 69 South Florida 4-2 (March 29).
- Six Flames have recorded at least 10 singles victories this spring. Deji Thomas-Smith paces Liberty with 17 singles victories.
- The returners from last season's NIT title run went a combined 3-1 in doubles and 4-0 in singles at the 2023 event.
Liberty Women's Tennis | 17-6 (5-0 CUSA) | CUSA Runner-Up
- Concluded the 2024 season with a 4-1 loss to No. 1 seed and No. 27 FIU in the 2024 CUSA Women's Tennis Championship final. Liberty swept New Mexico State and Jax State with 4-0 victories in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds.
- The Lady Flames finished the regular season with a perfect 9-0 record at home and a 8-6 record away from Lynchburg (5-3 road, 3-3 neutral).
- The Lady Flames achieved a program-best No. 54 ITA national ranking on Feb. 20. Liberty held a national ranking for a program-record seven consecutive weeks.
- Five Lady Flames finished with 10 or more singles wins this spring, including Esther Lovato, Marina Davtyan, Daniella O'Neill, Maria Turchetto and Maria Juliana Parra Romero.
- Liberty finished the regular season with an eight-match win streak, adding two more victories in the CUSA Championship.
- Liberty collected a 1-4 record against foes that finished the 2024 spring regular season ranked. The Lady Flames' best win was a 4-3 triumph over VCU on Feb. 17.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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