Saturday, January 17
Auburn, Ala.
11:00 AM ET/10:00 AM CT
Liberty University
1
at
6
Auburn
Liberty Falls to Auburn 6-1 to Begin 2026 Season
1/17/2026 2:38:00 PM | Men's Tennis
AUBURN, Ala. – Liberty men's tennis fell in its opening match of the season with a 6-1 final at Auburn on Saturday afternoon.
Junior Rodrigo Santiago Arraez shined for the Flames in the No. 1 singles position. His opponent, No. 36 Billy Blaydes, cruised to a 6-3 first-set triumph despite a late push from the Flame. Arraez and Blaydes traded blows in the second set, reaching ties at both 5-5 and needing a tiebreaker at 6-6. The junior edged Blayes 7-2 in the second-set tiebreaker before cruising to 10-2 super tiebreaker win for a 3-6, 7-6 (5), 1-0 (2) final tally.
The win marked Arreaz's first win in either the No. 1 or No. 2 singles position and his first win over a nationally ranked opponent.
The Flames dropped the doubles point 2-0 with defeats on courts one and two. The Flames' No. 3 pair of Arraez and Guy Vorwerk were leading 5-4 when the match went unfinished.
Liberty secured one first set across the six singles matches with redshirt freshman Benjamin Sparks gaining a 7-5 advantage in the No. 4 singles match. Across the board, the Flames performed better in the second sets of matches with three wins.
The Flames earned two other second-set wins from Sparks in the No. 4 singles match and David Ekpenyong in the No. 6 singles match. Sparks ultimately fell in a tight match to Joey Phillps 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (8). Ekpenyong was taken down by Manel Lazaro 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.
Auburn 6, Liberty 1
Singles Competition
1. R Santiago Arraez (LIBERTYM) def. #36 Billy Blaydes (AUB) 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 1-0 (10-2)
2. #40 Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) def. Carl Roothman (LIBERTYM) 6-2, 6-1
3. Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. Siwanat Auytayakul (LIBERTYM) 6-3, 6-2
4. Joey Phillips (AUB) def. Benjamin Sparks (LIBERTYM) 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8)
5. Freddy Blaydes (AUB) def. Chase Robinson (LIBERTYM) 6-4, 6-2
6. Manel Lazaro (AUB) def. David Ekpenyong (LIBERTYM) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
Doubles Competition
1. #24 Billy Blaydes/Freddy Blaydes (AUB) def. Siwanat Auytayakul/Carl Roothman (LIBERTYM) 6-3
2. #49 Joey Phillips/Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. David Ekpenyong/Benjamin Sparks (LIBERTYM) 6-4
3. Jake Kennedy/Thomas Kennedy (AUB) vs. Guy Vorwerk/R Santiago Arraez (LIBERTYM) 4-5, unfinished
Liberty 0-1
Auburn 3-0
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (2,3,5,6,4,1)
T-2:04 A-119
Flames News & Notes
Up Next
Liberty heads to Georgia Tech for a match on Monday at 11 AM from the Ken-Byers Tennis Complex in Atlanta, Ga. The match will be streamed live via TrackTennis.
Junior Rodrigo Santiago Arraez shined for the Flames in the No. 1 singles position. His opponent, No. 36 Billy Blaydes, cruised to a 6-3 first-set triumph despite a late push from the Flame. Arraez and Blaydes traded blows in the second set, reaching ties at both 5-5 and needing a tiebreaker at 6-6. The junior edged Blayes 7-2 in the second-set tiebreaker before cruising to 10-2 super tiebreaker win for a 3-6, 7-6 (5), 1-0 (2) final tally.
The win marked Arreaz's first win in either the No. 1 or No. 2 singles position and his first win over a nationally ranked opponent.
The Flames dropped the doubles point 2-0 with defeats on courts one and two. The Flames' No. 3 pair of Arraez and Guy Vorwerk were leading 5-4 when the match went unfinished.
Liberty secured one first set across the six singles matches with redshirt freshman Benjamin Sparks gaining a 7-5 advantage in the No. 4 singles match. Across the board, the Flames performed better in the second sets of matches with three wins.
The Flames earned two other second-set wins from Sparks in the No. 4 singles match and David Ekpenyong in the No. 6 singles match. Sparks ultimately fell in a tight match to Joey Phillps 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (8). Ekpenyong was taken down by Manel Lazaro 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.
Auburn 6, Liberty 1
Singles Competition
1. R Santiago Arraez (LIBERTYM) def. #36 Billy Blaydes (AUB) 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 1-0 (10-2)
2. #40 Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) def. Carl Roothman (LIBERTYM) 6-2, 6-1
3. Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. Siwanat Auytayakul (LIBERTYM) 6-3, 6-2
4. Joey Phillips (AUB) def. Benjamin Sparks (LIBERTYM) 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8)
5. Freddy Blaydes (AUB) def. Chase Robinson (LIBERTYM) 6-4, 6-2
6. Manel Lazaro (AUB) def. David Ekpenyong (LIBERTYM) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
Doubles Competition
1. #24 Billy Blaydes/Freddy Blaydes (AUB) def. Siwanat Auytayakul/Carl Roothman (LIBERTYM) 6-3
2. #49 Joey Phillips/Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. David Ekpenyong/Benjamin Sparks (LIBERTYM) 6-4
3. Jake Kennedy/Thomas Kennedy (AUB) vs. Guy Vorwerk/R Santiago Arraez (LIBERTYM) 4-5, unfinished
Liberty 0-1
Auburn 3-0
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (2,3,5,6,4,1)
T-2:04 A-119
Flames News & Notes
- Arraez made his first appearance in either the No. 1 or No. 2 singles position. He improves his overall singles record to 8-7 this year. He improves to 3-0 in singles in the opening match of the season.
- Ekpenyong, Sparks and Vorwerk each made their Liberty spring season debuts.
- Liberty matched up with four ranked opponents, including two ranked doubles pairs and two ranked singles foes. Carl Roothman fell to No. 40 Hamza Nasridinov, 6-2, 6-1 in the No. 2 singles match.
Up Next
Liberty heads to Georgia Tech for a match on Monday at 11 AM from the Ken-Byers Tennis Complex in Atlanta, Ga. The match will be streamed live via TrackTennis.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,2
#1 Singles Match
123
371
Billy Blaydes / 0 (36/-) [AUB]
660
#2 Singles Match
12
21
Hamza Nasridinov / 0 (40/-) [AUB]
66
#3 Singles Match
12
32
Nicholas Heng / 0 [AUB]
66
#4 Singles Match
123
730
Joey Phillips / 0 [AUB]
561
#5 Singles Match
12
42
Freddy Blaydes / 0 [AUB]
66
#6 Singles Match
123
163
Manel Lazaro / 0 [AUB]
646
Order of Finish:
2,3,5,6,4,1
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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