Liberty Women’s Tennis Tournament Oct. 19-23

Over the weekend of Oct. 19 – 23, Liberty played host for the 2023 ITA Women’s Atlantic Regional. The tournament featured seven Lady Flames, including junior Maria Juliana Parra Romero, senior Esther Lovato, graduate Marina Davtyan, senior Tiffany Nguyen, sophomore Daniella O’Neill, freshman Maria Turchetto and freshman Sadie Daavettila, with juniors Elsa Kirch and Bruna Sampaio serving as alternates. 

On Thursday Oct. 19, the opening day of the tournament,  Turchetto displayed an impressive performance in singles, clinching two victories. She defeated Gabriela Giraldo from George Washington in the first round 6-4, 6-3 and Jordina Cegarra from Penn State in the round of 32 6-2, 6-7(5), 1-0(8). As a result of her outstanding performance, Turchetto advanced to the main bracket, where she joined her teammates Parra Romero, senior Esther Lovato, and Davtyan.

Nguyen claimed victory in her initial match against JMU’s Hope Moulin with a score of 6-4, 6-4. However, in the second round Nguyen faced a tough challenge in Sophia Hurrion of Marshall, ultimately losing with a score of 4-6, 6-2, 1-0(8).

In the first round, O’Neill[PAJ1]  competed against Lainey O’Neil[PAJ2]  from Richmond. Despite a tremendous effort, she fell with a score of 6-3, 7-6(4). O’Neill followed up that defeat with a bounce back victory against Lexi Smolder from Radford with a score of 6-2, 6-4.

Daavettila faced off against Sylvia Eklund from Navy but was narrowly defeated with a score of 6-3, 1-6, 1-0(8). However, Daavettila made a strong comeback in her subsequent match, defeating Brooklyn Siegel from George Mason.

On Friday, the second day of the tournament, four Lady Flames, Parra Romero, Lovato, Davtyan, and Turchetto started the day with singles matches.

Junior Priscilla Janikian marked her return to the team after a yearlong absence due to injury and was paired with Kirch. The two of them fought to secure an 8-7(3) victory over Towson’s Mya Spencer and Ashira Murry.

Davtyan started the day with a victory over Radford’s Julia Abrams, 6-3, 6-3. Lovato

scored a win against William & Mary’s Alessandra Anghel, 6-3, 6-4. Davtyan partnered with O’Neill and the duo beat Navy’s Kate Lee and Parvathi Shanker 8-3.

Parra Romero dominated in her singles match against Richmond’s Andrea Campodonico, 6-1, 6-1. Later on, the junior returned later alongside her doubles partner Nguyen, and they secured a win over Maryland’s Kallista Liu and Ela Platenikova 8-3.

Following her successful day one, Turchetto faced off against William and Mary’s Hedda Gurholt in her next match, but she was defeated with a score of 6-3, 6-1. Sampaio and Turchetto then played George Washington’s Solange Skeene and Alejandra Ramirez in doubles, and the Liberty duo was down 7-4, but pulled out wins in three straight games to force a tiebreak at 7-7. Despite their tremendous efforts, the pair wasn’t able to secure the victory. 

On Saturday, the third day of the tournament Lovato secured a hard-fought victory against Delaware’s Alex Staiculescu with a score of 7-6(4), 6-1. Lovato then fell to Maryland’s Selma Cadar with a score of 6-3, 5-7, 6-0.

Parra Romero initiated the day with a solid performance, defeating West Virginia’s Michaela Kucharova with a score of 6-2, 6-2. However, the junior encountered a harder match the next round, ultimately falling to Virginia’s Natasha Subhash with a final score of 6-0, 2-6, 6-1.

Davtyan kicked off the day with a win against Delaware’s Eliza Askarova, with a finishing score of 7-6(4), 6-3. Later on, Davtyan was defeated by Virginia Tech’s Katie Andreini with a final score of 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

The duo of Parra Romero and Nquyen secured a win against Navy’s Sia Chaudry and Samantha Johns with a score of 8-4. Returning to the courts later, they were defeated by Delaware’s Askarova and Staiculescu by a score of 8-2.

The Lady Flames pair, Davtyan and O’Neill, despite trailing behind 7-4, made a remarkable comeback to push their match against Marshall’s Aisling McGrane and Hurrion into a tiebreaker. They briefly held a 5-4 lead in the tiebreak but lost 8-7(4).

Lovato and Daavettila were paired  against VCU’s Tiziana Rossini and Emma Rizzetto. The duo was taken down 8-4.

Lovato, Parra Romero and Davtyan all emerged victorious in their initial singles. However, none of the Lady Flames managed to secure wins in their subsequent matches, bringing the team’s participation in the event to a close.

After three intense days of victories and defeats, the Lady Flames concluded their participation in the tournament Saturday afternoon. The team will be holding the second Flames Hidden Dual starting Friday, Nov. 3 at the Liberty Tennis Complex.

Carlson is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion