LYNCHBURG, Va. - Charleston Southern saw their 13 match Big South Conference winning streak snapped on Saturday afternoon as the Buccaneers fell on the road to Liberty on the Hershey-Esbenshade Tennis Courts, 4-3.
The Buccaneers swept all three doubles courts and reigning Big South Player of the Year Marketa Placha and teammate Sophie Cloessner remained undefeated in conference singles on the season with a three-set victory on court no. 1 as CSU falls to 10-2 overall on the season, 4-1 in Big South play.
All six singles courts went three sets on the afternoon with Liberty winning on courts 2, 3, 4 and 5, as the Bucs were unable to overcome the Flames on the road.
CSU continues their road trip tomorrow afternoon as the Buccaneers travel to Radford, Va., to take on the Radford Highlanders in Big South play. First serve in doubles competition is set for 2 p.m.
Placha and Sophie Cloessner took the first CSU victory of the day on doubles court no. 3 as the Bucs' duo topped Mariely Hassey and Emily Groeneveld, 8-3. Angelica Sidorenko and Mi'Kola Cooper battled through the tiebreaker on court no. 1 to clinch the doubles point for the Bucs with an 8-7 (7-2) win over Brittany Yang and Maria Khval.
Nicolin Luecke and Yvonne Hubler completed the CSU sweep with an 8-6 win over Valerie Thong and Evangeline Crist on court no. 2 to send the teams into singles action.
Placha was the first off the court in singles play as the CSU senior defeated Hassey in three sets. Placha took the first set 6-1, but fell 4-6 in set 2 to send the match to the decisive third frame. In the third frame, Placha improved to 5-0 in Big South play on court no. 1 with a 6-2 victory.
Cloessner closed out action on court no. 6 as the CSU freshman bounced back after falling in the first set 6-1, to recording back-to-back 7-5 decisions in sets 2 and 3 to improve to 5-0 in Big South Conference action with the win.
Cooper joined Placha in winning the first set, while Hubler, Sidorenko and Luecke all won the second set in their matches to keep the Bucs' chances alive. Sidorenko in particular battled through the tiebreaker in the second set, winning 7-4 in the frame to send the match into the third frame, but the Flames took four singles matches in a row to clinch the victory.
Liberty 5, Charleston Southern 2
Mar 21, 2015 at Lynchburg, Va. (Hershey-Esbenshade Tennis Courts)
Singles competition
1. Marketa Placha (CSU) def. HASSEY, Mariely (LIBERTY) 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
2. RIVERA, Belen (LIBERTY) def. Yvonne Hubler (CSU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-2
3. KHVAL, Maria (LIBERTY) def. Angelica Sidorenko (CSU) 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2
4. CRIST, Evangeline (LIBERTY) def. Nicolin Luecke (CSU) 7-5, 6-7, 6-3
5. YANG, Brittany (LIBERTY) def. Mi'Kola Cooper (CSU) 2-6, 7-5, 7-5
6. Sophie Cloessner (CSU) def. GROENEVELD, Emily (LIBERTY) 1-6, 7-5, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. Angelica Sidorenko/Mi'Kola Cooper (CSU) def. KHVAL, Maria/YANG, Brittany (LIBERTY) 8-7 (7-2)
2. Nicolin Luecke/Yvonne Hubler (CSU) def. THONG, Valerie/CRIST, Evangeline (LIBERTY) 8-6
3. Marketa Placha/Sophie Cloessner (CSU) def. HASSEY, Mariely/GROENEVELD, Emily (LIBERTY) 8-3
Match Notes
Charleston Southern 10-1
Liberty 12-2
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,3,2,5,4,6)
