The Liberty Lady Flames tennis team (5-6, 3-0 Big South) will compete against fellow Big South conference member Charleston Southern (6-1, 2-0 Big South), Saturday afternoon in Lynchburg.
First serve is slated for 1 p.m. between the Lady Flames and Buccaneers, who are both looking to remain unbeaten in Big South play.
The two teams split a pair of matchups in 2016. The Bucs topped the Lady Flames, 4-3, on April 2, 2016. The loss was Liberty's lone setback of its Big South regular season slate, last spring. However, the Lady Flames avenged the loss with a 4-0 win over No. 4 seed CSU in the Big South Women's Tennis Championship on April 17, 2016.
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| Liberty (5-6, 3-0 Big South) will battle Charleston Southern (6-1, 2-0 Big South) on Saturday afternoon. |
How to Follow the Lady FlamesLive stats will be available for the match. Visit the women's tennis schedule & results panel on LibertyFlames.com for the link to live results.
For those unable to attend, be sure to follow @LUGameday on Twitter for live in-match updates.
Big South Update
The Lady Flames are off to another strong start in Big South play in 2017 with a 3-0 record. Liberty already has wins over Longwood, Radford and UNC Asheville in conference competition. The Lady Flames have lost just two points to their opposition in three league matches.
The Lady Flames are off to another strong start in Big South play in 2017 with a 3-0 record. Liberty already has wins over Longwood, Radford and UNC Asheville in conference competition. The Lady Flames have lost just two points to their opposition in three league matches.
Here's what the Big South Conference standings currently look like:
| Team | Overall | Conference |
| Winthrop | 10-3 | 4-0 |
| Liberty | 5-6 | 3-0 |
| Charleston Southern | 6-1 | 2-0 |
| UNC Asheville | 8-5 | 3-1 |
| Gardner-Webb | 5-4 | 1-2 |
| Campbell | 4-7 | 1-2 |
| Presbyterian | 9-4 | 1-2 |
| Radford | 3-8 | 0-4 |
| Longwood | 1-8 | 0-4 |
Liberty senior Mariely Hassey was named the Big South Women's Tennis Player of the Week by the league office, last Wednesday, for the second straight week. Hassey collected a pair of singles wins and two doubles wins, on Feb. 24 and 25.
Following Saturday's match with Charleston Southern, the Lady Flames will play their next Big South match on March 26 against Presbyterian in Lynchburg. That match will be Senior Day for Liberty, as the team will take time prior to the match to honor seniors Emily Groeneveld and Mariely Hassey for their contributions to the program.
Inside the Numbers
Hassey leads the Lady Flames with 13 singles wins during the 2016-17 season, including an 8-1 mark in the spring. She has 62 career singles wins in a Liberty uniform, tied for fourth-most in program history.
Hassey leads the Lady Flames with 13 singles wins during the 2016-17 season, including an 8-1 mark in the spring. She has 62 career singles wins in a Liberty uniform, tied for fourth-most in program history.
Evangeline Crist is right behind her with 60 career singles victories, including a 10-7 mark during her junior season. Crist is 6-3 in dual matches this spring, while sophomore Anna Dollar (6-3) and senior Emily Groeneveld (5-3) also hold strong singles marks in spring competition as well.
Liberty's top two doubles units this year have been Crist and Dollar (12-8 record) and sophomores Rebekah Anderson and Aleksandra Panchenko (10-10 record). Crist is No. 4 in program history in career doubles victories (68).
Scouting Charleston Southern
In 2016, the Buccaneers finished 14-5 overall and 7-2 in Big South play. This year's squad has wins over Wofford, South Carolina State, Savannah State, Stetson, Campbell and Gardner-Webb so far.
In 2016, the Buccaneers finished 14-5 overall and 7-2 in Big South play. This year's squad has wins over Wofford, South Carolina State, Savannah State, Stetson, Campbell and Gardner-Webb so far.
CSU's nine-player 2016-17 roster consists of two freshmen, two sophomores, two juniors and three seniors.
Sophomores Kimberly Koerner and Yana Morar both hold unbeaten 7-0 records in singles play, this spring, playing in the back end of the lineup. Junior sophomore Cloessner stands at 6-1 in singles competition, including a perfect 5-0 mark at No. 2 singles. The Bucs are a collective 34-8 in singles, so far this spring.
CSU has also been strong in doubles play (15-5 overall) in 2017. Their top two units have been Cloessner and Nicolin Luecke (6-1 at No. 1 doubles) and Koerner and Ferncke van Rensburg (5-1 at No. 3 doubles).
Mike Baker is in his 13th season as head coach of the Buccaneers. In his first 12 years at the helm, Baker's teams have won a total of 153 matches and lost 84 matches.
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