Tuesday, 03/13/2012

Long Island was forced to default both a singles and doubles match on Tuesday afternoon, as the Liberty women's tennis team claimed a 4-3 win the Blackbirds.  The match was being made up after being rained out on Sunday evening.

Liberty ups its record to 3-9 and has won its last two contests.  Long Island remains winless on the year at 0-4.

The Lady Flames opened the contest by taking the doubles point, as Long Island defaulted in the No. 3 match.  Liberty claimed the No. 2 match, 8-2, with Rebekah Jenkins and Carol Lobel downing Lisa Maas and Nancy Zonneveld to grab a 1-0 advantage.

Long Island's No. 1 duo of Sanne Louwers and Taysha Blessington took the lead doubles match, 8-6, over Cameron Richard and Brittany Yang.

In singles, the Blackbirds fell behind 2-0, as they defaulted the No. 6 match to Jessie Boda.

Liberty then used a pair of straight-set matches to clinch the team victory.  Jenkins outhit Maas, 6-1, 6-3 in the No. 3 match.  Annisha Domenech only dropped one game in the No. 5 slot to defeat Brittany Thompson, 6-1, 6-0.

Louwers, the reigning NEC Player and Freshman of the Week, took a win in the lead singles match for Long Island, while Blackbirds also claimed wins in the No. 2 and No. 4 matches.  Both of the latter victories came by deciding the final set by 10-point rally scoring.

Liberty's final day of competition in Florida comes tomorrow, with a pair of contests.  The Lady Flames open at 10 a.m. against Chicago State and wrap up the evening at 7 p.m. versus Bethune-Cookman.

Liberty 4, Long Island 3
DOUBLES
1. Louwers/Blessington (LIU) def. Richard/Yang (LU), 8-6
2. Jenkins/Lobel (LU) def. Maas/Zonneveld (LIU), 8-2
3. Domenech/Boda (LU) win by default

SINGLES
1. Louwers (LIU) def. Richard (LU), 6-4, 6-2
2. Blessington (LIU) def. Yang (LU), 6-0, 6-7 (4), 10-2
3. Jenkins (LU) def. Maas (LIU), 6-1, 6-3
4. Zonneveld (LIU) def. Lobel (LU), 6-3, 1-6, 10-4
5. Domenech (LU) def. Thompson (LIU), 6-1, 6-0
6. Boda (LU) wins by default