Flames Impress at Liberty Dual

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Hosting the Liberty Dual this weekend, multiple Flames impressed in the ten-team event. Liberty compiled a 16-5 singles record and a 7-4 doubles mark with a pair of match wins and a narrow 4-3 loss.

Liberty played three hidden dual matches. The first round was seeded by UTR scores and the remaining matches were determined by the previous day's results. The Flames fell in a tight match against Elon 4-3 to begin the weekend, despite securing the doubles point. Liberty won the top five singles matches to upend William & Mary on Saturday after surrendering the doubles point. The Flames wrapped up play with a dominant 7-0 triumph over VCU on Sunday morning.

Rodrigo Santiago Arraez stood out over the weekend with a 3-0 singles record and a 2-0 doubles mark playing at the top of the Flames singles lineup. The junior topped Elon's Veljo Krstic 6-4, 6-1 at No. 2, William & Mary's Oliver Hague 6-3, 7-6 (6) at No. 1 and VCU's Alfred Almasi 6-0, 6-7, 6-4 also in the No. 1 singles position.

In his Flames debut, transfer addition David Ekpenyong (Our Lady of the Lake, Texas), showed out also with a 3-0 singles record. The Nigerian native played between the No. 2 and 3 singles slots in three matches this weekend.

The event was Liberty's first full-team event of the fall season. The Flames sent three to the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla., last week.

Flames News & Notes

Six Flames secured at least two singles victories across the event. No Liberty athlete had a losing record in singles
Redshirt freshmen Benjamin Sparks and Guy Vorwerk each made their Liberty debuts. Sparks collected a 2-1 singles mark and a 1-2 doubles record. Vorwerk secured a 1-1 singles mark and a 1-2 doubles record, playing both matches with Ekpenyong.
Carl Roothman and Chase Robinson earned a 3-0 mark playing in doubles in both the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles slots.
Ernst Gouws and Arraez secured an unbeaten, 2-0 record. Gouws also won a doubles match playing with Sparks to secure a perfect 3-0 doubles record.
Roothman made an appearance at the No. 1 singles position, falling against Elon's Veljko Krstic 6-1, 6-2 on Friday.

Up Next
Liberty prepares for the ITA Atlantic Regional in Blacksburg, Va., beginning on Oct. 9. All Flames are expected to compete at the five-day event hosted by Virginia Tech.

Schedule

Next Event

Players Mentioned

David Ekpenyong

Ernst Gouws

Chase Robinson

Carl Roothman

Rodrigo Santiago Arraez

Benjamin Sparks

Guy Vorwerk