Liberty Moves to 6-1 in Big South with Win Over Campbell, Tuesday

Liberty improved to 6-1 in Big South play with a 4-3 victory over host Campbell, Tuesday afternoon at the James R. Nisbet Tennis Center.

The Lady Flames (10-11) fell behind after losing the doubles point to the Camels (8-11, 3-5 Big South) but bounced back for four singles wins despite missing two key cogs in their lineup.   

"Not having Aleks [Aleksandra Panchenko] and Anna [Dollar] in the lineup was a difficult obstacle. And on top of that, Campbell was playing really well," said Liberty Women's Tennis Head Coach Jeff Maren. "But once again, our girls showed how battle-tested they are by pulling this off. I'm very proud of the way Bekah [Rebekah Anderson] played in singles, as well as our seniors and freshman who took care of business."

In doubles, Campbell won in the No. 1 and No. 3 matches to secure the first point of the day. Liberty seniors Mariely Hassey and Emily Groeneveld teamed up for their 14th doubles victory of the 2016-17 season, defeating Pauline Roustan and Lea Cutura, 6-2.

But the Camels proved their mettle in the No. 3 match, as Nina Asinin and Georgina Segarra bested the Lady Flames' Eugenia Camacho and Audrey Brown, 6-2.

Campbell took a 1-0 lead in the match on the strength of No. 1 unit Alexandra Andrivot and Isabel Boada. The tandem outlasted Liberty's Rebekah Anderson and Evangeline Crist, 7-5.

Camacho improved to 7-0 in Big South singles play with a two-set triumph over Roustan in the No. 5 singles bout. Camacho's dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory brought the score to 1-1. 

Camacho is now 7-0 in Big South singles matches, this spring.

On court four, Hassey made more history in her storied Liberty career. The senior's 67th career singles victory, a 6-2, 6-1 drubbing of Boada, put Liberty on top, 2-1, and moved her into second place all-time in singles wins in program history, ahead of former Lady Flame Brittany Yang (66 victories, 2011-15).

The Camels knotted the match at 2-all with a No. 6 singles victory from Asanin over Brown (6-1, 6-3).

Groeneveld once again delivered in a key match for Liberty, winning her seventh straight singles dual, 6-3, 6-4, against Alexandra Nicoara. Groeneveld's victory on court three put Liberty back ahead, 3-2.

For a second straight day, Anderson went to a third set with her opponent. In her No. 1 match against Andrivot, the Liberty sophomore lost set one, 6-4, before roaring back for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 triumph. Anderson's victory was the decisive point for the Lady Flames, boosting their advantage to 4-2.

The final match on court two between Crist and Cutura came down to a third-set tiebreaker. Cutura edged Crist, 10-8, in the tiebreaker to win the match (4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-8)) and settle the final score at 4-3.

Next up for the Lady Flames is a home match with first-place Charleston Southern (14-1, 6-0 Big South). The Lady Flames' regular-season finale is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start, Friday at the Cook Tennis Center.