Sunday, February 1
Princeton, N.J.
10:00 AM ET
Liberty University
4
at
3
Princeton
Ekpenyong Bookends Liberty’s Comeback 4-3 victory at Princeton
2/1/2026 6:11:00 PM | Men's Tennis
PRINCETON, N.J. – David Ekpenyong secured the match-winning fourth point to wrap up Liberty's (2-3) 4-3 comeback victory at Princeton (4-2) on Sunday afternoon. The Flame needed his own third-set comeback to seal the Flames' second win of the season.
"All honor and glory to our Father for this team and the guys' effort today," head coach Derek Schwandt said. "It was a unified team battle! We are excited to build off this momentum."
Princeton secured the doubles point with triumphs on courts one and two. The No. 2 doubles match proved to be pivotal after Liberty's David Ekpenyong and Benjamin Sparks were unable to hold onto the lead despite being up 40-15 at 5-5.
Liberty secured its first point of the match from Chase Robinson with a 6-0, 6-3 triumph in the No. 6 singles match.
Princeton picked up victories from two of its three ranked athletes. No. 11 Paul Inchauspe topped Rodrigo Santiago Arraez 6-2, 6-2 on court one. No. 99 Sebastian Sec followed with a 6-3, 6-1 in the No. 3 singles match to stretch the lead to 3-1.
The Flames received a critical victory from Carl Roothman in the No. 2 singles match with a 7-5, 6-2 triumph over No. 98 Top Nidunjianzan, narrowing the deficit to 3-2.
Benjamin Sparks evened the match with a taxing 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-3 victory on court four.
In the final match of the day, David Ekpenyong battled Aleksandar Mitric in a three-set thriller. They two traded 6-4 set wins with the Flame needing the second set triumph to stay alive. The junior faced a 5-2 deficit in the third set, but remained focused, leaning on strong serves and net play to battle back. Ekpenyong rattled off four straight games to eventually force a tiebreaker at 6-6.
The Flame secured four straight points in the tiebreaker to seal a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) triumph and secured Liberty the road triumph.
Liberty 4, Princeton 3
Singles Competition
1. #11 Paul Inchauspe (PRI) def. R Santiago Arraez (LIBERTYM) 6-2, 6-2
2. Carl Roothman (LIBERTYM) def. #98 Top Nidunjianzan (PRI) 7-5, 6-2
3. #99 Sebastian Sec (PRI) def. Siwanat Auytayakul (LIBERTYM) 6-3, 6-1
4. David Ekpenyong (LIBERTYM) def. Aleksandar Mitric (PRI) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
5. Benjamin Sparks (LIBERTYM) def. Milan Markovits (PRI) 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3
6. Chase Robinson (LIBERTYM) def. Evan Wen (PRI) 6-0, 6-3
Doubles Competition
1. Paul Inchauspe/Aleksandar Mitric (PRI) def. Siwanat Auytayakul/Carl Roothman (LIBERTYM) 6-2
2. Meecah Bigun/Evan Wen (PRI) def. Benjamin Sparks/David Ekpenyong (LIBERTYM) 7-5
3. R Santiago Arraez/Guy Vorwerk (LIBERTYM) def. Sawyer Severance/Milan Markovits (PRI) 6-4
Liberty 2-3
Princeton 4-2
Order of Finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,3,1,2,5,4)
Flames News & Notes
Up Next
Liberty (2-3) hosts a pair of matches at the Liberty Indoor Tennis Center this weekend. The Flames take on Longwood (0-1) on Friday at 3 p.m. before battling Penn State (6-0) on Sunday at noon.
"All honor and glory to our Father for this team and the guys' effort today," head coach Derek Schwandt said. "It was a unified team battle! We are excited to build off this momentum."
Princeton secured the doubles point with triumphs on courts one and two. The No. 2 doubles match proved to be pivotal after Liberty's David Ekpenyong and Benjamin Sparks were unable to hold onto the lead despite being up 40-15 at 5-5.
Liberty secured its first point of the match from Chase Robinson with a 6-0, 6-3 triumph in the No. 6 singles match.
Princeton picked up victories from two of its three ranked athletes. No. 11 Paul Inchauspe topped Rodrigo Santiago Arraez 6-2, 6-2 on court one. No. 99 Sebastian Sec followed with a 6-3, 6-1 in the No. 3 singles match to stretch the lead to 3-1.
The Flames received a critical victory from Carl Roothman in the No. 2 singles match with a 7-5, 6-2 triumph over No. 98 Top Nidunjianzan, narrowing the deficit to 3-2.
Benjamin Sparks evened the match with a taxing 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-3 victory on court four.
In the final match of the day, David Ekpenyong battled Aleksandar Mitric in a three-set thriller. They two traded 6-4 set wins with the Flame needing the second set triumph to stay alive. The junior faced a 5-2 deficit in the third set, but remained focused, leaning on strong serves and net play to battle back. Ekpenyong rattled off four straight games to eventually force a tiebreaker at 6-6.
The Flame secured four straight points in the tiebreaker to seal a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) triumph and secured Liberty the road triumph.
Liberty 4, Princeton 3
Singles Competition
1. #11 Paul Inchauspe (PRI) def. R Santiago Arraez (LIBERTYM) 6-2, 6-2
2. Carl Roothman (LIBERTYM) def. #98 Top Nidunjianzan (PRI) 7-5, 6-2
3. #99 Sebastian Sec (PRI) def. Siwanat Auytayakul (LIBERTYM) 6-3, 6-1
4. David Ekpenyong (LIBERTYM) def. Aleksandar Mitric (PRI) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
5. Benjamin Sparks (LIBERTYM) def. Milan Markovits (PRI) 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3
6. Chase Robinson (LIBERTYM) def. Evan Wen (PRI) 6-0, 6-3
Doubles Competition
1. Paul Inchauspe/Aleksandar Mitric (PRI) def. Siwanat Auytayakul/Carl Roothman (LIBERTYM) 6-2
2. Meecah Bigun/Evan Wen (PRI) def. Benjamin Sparks/David Ekpenyong (LIBERTYM) 7-5
3. R Santiago Arraez/Guy Vorwerk (LIBERTYM) def. Sawyer Severance/Milan Markovits (PRI) 6-4
Liberty 2-3
Princeton 4-2
Order of Finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,3,1,2,5,4)
Flames News & Notes
- Roothman's victory on Sunday was the senior's first-ever victory over a ranked opponent. He improved to 3-2 this season and has won his last three singles matches.
- Robinson holds a 3-0 record in the No. 6 singles position so far this season.
- Ekpenyong secured his first victory in the No. 4 singles position.
Up Next
Liberty (2-3) hosts a pair of matches at the Liberty Indoor Tennis Center this weekend. The Flames take on Longwood (0-1) on Friday at 3 p.m. before battling Penn State (6-0) on Sunday at noon.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,1,2
#1 Singles Match
12
22
Paul Inchauspe / 0 (11/-) [PRI]
66
#2 Singles Match
12
76
Top Nidunjianzan / 0 (98/-) [PRI]
52
#3 Singles Match
12
31
Sebastian Sec / 0 (99/-) [PRI]
66
#4 Singles Match
123
467
Aleksandar Mitric / 0 [PRI]
646
#5 Singles Match
123
666
Milan Markovits / 0 [PRI]
473
#6 Singles Match
12
66
Evan Wen / 0 [PRI]
03
Order of Finish:
6,3,1,2,5,4
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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