Saturday, January 18
Lynchburg, Va.
1:00 PM ET
Liberty University
6
vs
1
Richmond
Gouws, Men’s Tennis Open Season with Statement Win Over Richmond
1/18/2025 5:18:00 PM | Men's Tennis
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Liberty men's tennis jumped out to a fast start to the 2025 spring season with a commanding 6-1 triumph over Richmond on Saturday afternoon. Freshman Siwanat Auytayakul earned his first career spring victories with a 2-0 afternoon. Joaquim Almeida and Chase Robinson also enjoyed two triumphs on the day.
The Flames begin the spring season with a victory for the first time since 2016.
The Flames came out with a swift doubles round securing two victories including a 6-2 win from the No. 23 pair of Almeida and Auytayakul. Liberty came out firing in the singles, ignited by a stellar performance from Auytayakul, winning 6-1, 6-3 in the No. 2 singles position. The Flames earned four straight victories with Almeida securing the match-clinching fourth point.
Despite being in his third season at Liberty, redshirt freshman Ernst Gouws was playing in his first career spring match. Gouws fell behind with a 4-6 first set against Cole Brashear in the No. 5 singles match. The South Africa native faced a match point in the second set but forced a tiebreaker, winning 7-3 to earn a third set super-tiebreaker. Gouws raced out to a 9-2 lead to earn a 4-6, 7-6 (3), 1-0 (6) triumph.
Liberty 6, Richmond 1
Singles Competition
1. Joaquim Almeida (LIBERTYM) def. Davis Wiley (RICHMOND) 6-2, 6-4
2. Siwanat Auytayakul (LIBERTYM) def. Dylan Atkinson (RICHMOND) 6-1, 6-3
3. R Santiago Arraez (LIBERTYM) def. Otto Sewell (RICHMOND) 6-2, 7-5
4. Chase Robinson (LIBERTYM) def. Sam Rathmanner (RICHMOND) 6-3, 6-1
5. Ernst Gouws (LIBERTYM) def. Cole Brashear (RICHMOND) 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 1-0 (10-6)
6. Zach Portnoy (RICHMOND) def. Trey Stinchcomb (LIBERTYM) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4
Doubles Competition
1. #23 Joaquim Almeida/Siwanat Auytayakul (LIBERTYM) def. Davis Wiley/Sam Rathmanner (RICHMOND) 6-2
2. Carl Roothman/Ernst Gouws (LIBERTYM) vs. Cole Brashear/Otto Sewell (RICHMOND) 3-4, unfinished
3. Trey Stinchcomb/Chase Robinson (LIBERTYM) def. Paxton Pritchard/Dylan Atkinson (RICHMOND) 6-3
Match Notes:
Richmond 0-2
Liberty 1-0
Order of Finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (2,4,1,3,6,5)
Beyond the Box Score:
Up Next
The Flames (1-0) travel to Fort Worth, Texas for a pair of matches at the ITA Kickoff Weekend. Liberty opens against No. 23 Michigan State (1-0) on Saturday before facing either defending-champion No. 2 TCU or Pacific (0-0) the next day.
The Flames begin the spring season with a victory for the first time since 2016.
The Flames came out with a swift doubles round securing two victories including a 6-2 win from the No. 23 pair of Almeida and Auytayakul. Liberty came out firing in the singles, ignited by a stellar performance from Auytayakul, winning 6-1, 6-3 in the No. 2 singles position. The Flames earned four straight victories with Almeida securing the match-clinching fourth point.
Despite being in his third season at Liberty, redshirt freshman Ernst Gouws was playing in his first career spring match. Gouws fell behind with a 4-6 first set against Cole Brashear in the No. 5 singles match. The South Africa native faced a match point in the second set but forced a tiebreaker, winning 7-3 to earn a third set super-tiebreaker. Gouws raced out to a 9-2 lead to earn a 4-6, 7-6 (3), 1-0 (6) triumph.
Liberty 6, Richmond 1
Singles Competition
1. Joaquim Almeida (LIBERTYM) def. Davis Wiley (RICHMOND) 6-2, 6-4
2. Siwanat Auytayakul (LIBERTYM) def. Dylan Atkinson (RICHMOND) 6-1, 6-3
3. R Santiago Arraez (LIBERTYM) def. Otto Sewell (RICHMOND) 6-2, 7-5
4. Chase Robinson (LIBERTYM) def. Sam Rathmanner (RICHMOND) 6-3, 6-1
5. Ernst Gouws (LIBERTYM) def. Cole Brashear (RICHMOND) 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 1-0 (10-6)
6. Zach Portnoy (RICHMOND) def. Trey Stinchcomb (LIBERTYM) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4
Doubles Competition
1. #23 Joaquim Almeida/Siwanat Auytayakul (LIBERTYM) def. Davis Wiley/Sam Rathmanner (RICHMOND) 6-2
2. Carl Roothman/Ernst Gouws (LIBERTYM) vs. Cole Brashear/Otto Sewell (RICHMOND) 3-4, unfinished
3. Trey Stinchcomb/Chase Robinson (LIBERTYM) def. Paxton Pritchard/Dylan Atkinson (RICHMOND) 6-3
Match Notes:
Richmond 0-2
Liberty 1-0
Order of Finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (2,4,1,3,6,5)
Beyond the Box Score:
- The season-opening triumph is Liberty's first since topping King 5-2 in 2016.
- The Flames debuted four new additions to the team including three transfers including Almeida (2-0), Roothman (1-0 doubles), and Stinchcomb (1-1).
- Following Auytayakul's victory, a true freshman has won a singles match in a season opener for the second straight season. Rodrigo Santiago Arraez topped No. 1 Virginia's Douglas Yaffa 6-4, 1-6, 1-0 (10) in the No. 6 singles match.
- Returning players Arraez (No. 3 singles) and Robinson (No. 4 singles) both played and won a singles match in the highest position in their career.
Up Next
The Flames (1-0) travel to Fort Worth, Texas for a pair of matches at the ITA Kickoff Weekend. Liberty opens against No. 23 Michigan State (1-0) on Saturday before facing either defending-champion No. 2 TCU or Pacific (0-0) the next day.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,1
#1 Singles Match
12
Davis Wiley / 0 [RICHMOND]
24
66
#2 Singles Match
12
Dylan atkinson / 0 [RICHMOND]
13
66
#3 Singles Match
12
Otto Sewell / 0 [RICHMOND]
25
67
#4 Singles Match
12
Sam Rathmanner / 0 [RICHMOND]
31
66
#5 Singles Match
123
Cole Brashear / 0 [RICHMOND]
660
471
#6 Singles Match
12
Zach Portnoy / 0 [RICHMOND]
76
64
Order of Finish:
2,4,1,3,6,5
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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