Flames Upended at UNCW 5-2

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Liberty (7-12) wins a pair of singles matches but ultimately falls 5-2 on the road to UNCW (7-8) on Wednesday evening.

The Seahawks earned the doubles point with wins on courts one and three. The Flames' No. 2 pair of Trey Stinchcomb and Carl Roothman were leading 5-4 when the point was clinched.

Liberty's CUSA Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week, Rodrigo Santiago Arraez was the first singles match to finish. The sophomore bested Lukas Steffen 6-1, 6-4 to even the match at 1-1. The Flames won the first set in just two singles matches.

UNCW dominated the majority of the singles round with four consecutive two-set victories. Liberty trailed 3-1 following losses on courts two (6-2, 6-1) and one (6-2, 6-2). The Seahawks clinched the match-winning fourth point in the No. 6 singles match with Domenech topping Matija Samardzic 6-4, 6-3.

The overall match was clinched with two matches remaining, with Liberty falling on court three 6-3, 7-5. The final match of the day was filled with tiebreakers with, reaching a third-set super tiebreaker between Chase Robinson and Trey Mallory. The Liberty sophomore ultimately prevailed in a three-hour match 7-6 (1), 6-7 (5), 1-0 (8).

UNCW 5, Liberty 2

Singles Competition
1. Harold Huens (UNCW) def. Joaquim Almeida (LIBERTYM) 6-2, 6-2
2. Sam Nicholson (UNCW) def. Carl Roothman (LIBERTYM) 6-2, 6-1
3. Joseph Wayand (UNCW) def. Siwanat Auytayakul (LIBERTYM) 6-3, 7-5
4. R Santiago Arraez (LIBERTYM) def. Lukas Steffen (UNCW) 6-1, 6-4
5. Chase Robinson (LIBERTYM) def. Trey Mallory (UNCW) 7-6 (7-1), 6-7 (5-7), 1-0 (10-8)
6. Jordi Domenech (UNCW) def. Matija Samardzic (LIBERTYM) 6-4, 6-3

Doubles Competition
1. Jordi Domenech/Joseph Wayand (UNCW) def. #52 Joaquim Almeida/Siwanat Auytayakul (LIBERTYM) 6-3
2. Alex de Gabriele/Trey Mallory (UNCW) vs. Trey Stinchcomb/Carl Roothman (LIBERTYM) 4-5, unfinished
3. Harold Huens/Lukas Steffen (UNCW) def. R Santiago Arraez/Matija Samardzic (LIBERTYM) 6-4

Liberty 7-12
UNCW 8-7
Order of Finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (2,4,1,6,3,5)

Flames News & Notes

Arraez improved his singles winning streak to four matches with the two-set triumph. The sophomore leads the team with 11 singles victories this season.
Liberty falls to 4-8 on the road this spring.
The Flames have dropped six of the last seven doubles rounds.

Up Next
Liberty (7-12) heads West to take on Tulane (5-13) in its final road match of the season on Friday at 2 p.m. ET. The match from the City Park Tennis Center in New Orleans, La. will be streamed live on ESPN+.

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Joaquim Almeida

Siwanat Auytayakul

Chase Robinson

Carl Roothman

Matija Samardzic

Rodrigo Santiago Arraez

Trey Stinchcomb