College Tennis News - Lady Flames' Slate Leads into Spring Break Matches

Scheduled to play four matches in the next five days, the Liberty women's tennis team will play one road match and one home match before beginning its spring break trip with a pair of contests.

Liberty will travel to UMBC, Wednesday, for a 1 p.m. match, before hosting Gardner-Webb at 1 p.m., Friday. The Big South clash with the Runnin' Bulldogs is slated to be the team's outside home opener at the Hershey Tennis Courts.

The team then heads south for its annual spring break trip to Florida. The Lady Flames will stop in Hartsville, S.C., on the way down for a 10 a.m. meeting with Coker College, Saturday. The team's first match in Orlando, Fla., will then take place Sunday, taking on Long Island at 5 p.m.

The Lady Flames are currently on a four-match slide, in arguably their toughest stretch of matches for 2012.

Brittany Yang continues to lead the team in singles victories, with four on the season.

Cameron Richard, the 2011 Big South Conference Freshman of the Year, will look to use her three-set win from Saturday to gain momentum moving forward. Around the same time last year, Richard began a seven match singles win streak, while the team wrapped up its regular-season with 10 straight wins.

The Retrievers of UMBC enter Wednesday's contest with the Lady Flames holding a 5-5 record and winning their last two matches. UMBC blanked Hofstra, 7-0, and defeated Towson, 6-1, both being played Feb. 26.

On Friday, the Lady Flames' five-game road stretch will end, as they host Gardner-Webb at 1 p.m. The Runnin' Bulldogs are also winners of their last two, defeating Brevard, 7-0, and UAB, 5-2, to stand at 5-4 for 2012.

Freshman Alice Hopkins has won her last six singles matches, and is tied with Erica White for the team lead in singles wins with eight.

Live stats will be available for the Lady Flames' Big South matchup with the Runnin' Bulldogs. Stats can be followed by clicking here, or the live stats link found on the team's schedule page.

Meanwhile, Coker College is 5-3, with an unbeaten 4-0 record in Conference Carolinas. The Cobras have won their last three, and will travel to face Wingate before hosting the Lady Flames on Saturday at 10 a.m.

Alyssa Blanchard and Cora Berna lead the Cobra's singles play in the No. 1 and No. 2 slots, respectively, with each holding a 6-1 record. Blanchard and Stephanie Medley hold a 6-2 mark in No. 1 doubles matches to lead the team.

Liberty then wraps up a busy five-day slate by facing Long Island at 5 p.m., Sunday, which opens their spring break schedule of three matches. The Blackbirds' season is just getting underway, with the team dropping its opening three matches. Long Island has dropped contests to NJIT, St. Peter's and Massachusetts.