GWU Unable to Win Two in a Row, Falls to Red-Hot Liberty 5-2 on the Road Sunday
March 19, 2012 | Men's Tennis
Lynchburg, Va. - In taking on Big South Liberty, Gardner-Webb men's tennis was unable to win its second match in as many days and fell by a score of 5-2 on the road Sunday.
Gardner-Webb moves to 5-9 (0-2) on the season.
Liberty (10-3, 1-0) grabbed a 1-0 lead to open the match, claiming wins at all three doubles positions.
In singles play, the Runnin' Bulldogs came out fighting by winning the first set at three of the six singles positions. However the Flames battled back to claim early wins at No. 5 and No. 2 to gain a decisive advantage.
Junior Roman Piftor (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) earned his 9th win of the season at No. 4 in giving GWU its first point of the day, defeating Liberty's Tristan Stayt 6-2, 6-4.
Another Runnin' Bulldog junior, Adam Knutsson-Sundblad (Gothenburg, Sweden), scored a win for the visitors, taking the No. 3 singles match 7-5, 7-5 over the Flames' Giancarlo Lemmi. Liberty would prevail at No. 6 in straight sets to seal the match. With the match in hand, sophomore Korhan Ates (Istanbul, Turkey) dropped a hard-fought match at No. 1 singles, falling 3-6, 7-5, 10-4 to Siim Tuus.
Gardner-Webb will look to get back on the winning track on Tuesday as the Runnin' Bulldogs host Winthrop in Big South action. Tuesday's match vs. the Eagles is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. start time.
Match Results - Liberty 5, Gardner-Webb 2
DOUBLES
1. Tuus/Lemmi (LU) def. Ates/Knuttson (GWU), 8-2
2. Stayt/Thomas (LU) def. Alberch/Parker (GWU), 8-1
3. Harrell/Yadav (LU) def. Poli/Dempsey (GWU), 8-3
SINGLES
1. Tuus (LU) def. Ates (GWU), 3-6, 7-5, 10-4
2. Thomas (LU) def. Alberch (GWU), 6-1, 6-2
3. Knuttson (GWU) def. Lemmi (LU), 7-5, 7-5
4. Piftor (GWU) def. Stayt (LU), 6-2, 6-4
5. Segur (LU) def. Poli (GWU), 6-2, 6-4
6. Harrell (LU) def. Dempsey (GWU), 6-0, 7-5
