Tuesday, 10/06/2009

The Liberty women’s tennis team recorded an 18-7 record this past weekend at the Old Dominion Collegiate Invitational.

Junior Jordan Jenkins won the A-1 singles bracket and teamed with Nadia Solomon-Burgess to capture the B doubles bracket, highlighting the Lady Flames’ weekend.

In singles, Jenkins captured her second bracket championship in as many outings this fall. The junior previously had taken her singles bracket at the James Madison Invitational, Sept. 11-12.

This time, Jenkins opened her title run with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Carla Erskine of Villanova, followed by a 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Godze Unkaya of Drexel. She then downed VCU’s Ana Bara, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5) to advance to the finals. In the finals, Jenkins continued her string of straight-set victories with a 6-1, 6-0 triumph over James Madison’s Katherine Bulling to claim the A-1 singles bracket title.

Teammate Solomon-Burgess also found success in singles, advancing to the semifinals of the B-2 bracket. The junior defeated James Madison’s Leah DeMasters, 6-2, 6-4, in her first singles match of the tournament and then turned back Georgetown’s Caroline Kuehn without dropping a game, 6-0, 6-0. In the semifinals, the run came to an end, as Howard’s Brittany Morgan defeated Solomon-Burgess in three sets, 2-6, 6-4, 10-7.

In doubles, the three Lady Flames teams combined to compile a 9-2 mark on the weekend. Jenkins and Solomon-Burgess marched through the doubles B bracket unbeaten. Playing together for the first time this fall, the pairing took all four of its matches, including an 8-6 victory over Old Dominon’s Irina Dementyeva and Juliana Pires to claim the bracket crown.

In addition, the Liberty combination of Fabiana Gouveia and Brittany Thomas reached the finals of the doubles D bracket. The pair opened with an 8-3 victory over Navy’s Julie Dias and Cha Suriben and an 8-2 win over Kate Monari and Liz Spelman of Villanova. The Lady Flames duo then defeated Campbell’s Courtney Armitano and Lourdes Ros in a tightly-contested match, 9-7 to move into the finals. In the finals, James Madison’s Rebecca Erickson and Kelly Maxwell ended the pairing’s run with a 9-7 victory.

Liberty next competes at the prestigious Billy Jean King Invitational, Oct. 11-13 at the United States Tennis Center in New York, N.Y.