Agate

ELON, N.C. – The Elon University women's tennis team suffered its first loss in exactly a month today, March 7, as the Phoenix suffered a 5-2 defeat to Liberty at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
 
"Liberty is a talented team that has improved a lot," Elon head coach Elizabeth Anderson said. "We just need to gain more experience and get a little bit tougher in the points and we'll be fine."
 
The Phoenix faced an early 1-0 deficit after losing the doubles point. Taylor Casey and Erica Braschi got things started with an 8-5 victory on court No. 3, but Liberty won the final two matches to earn the point.
 
Kirsten Ward and Barbora Lazarova were handed an 8-3 defeat by Liberty's Brittany Yang and Maria Khval, and the duo of Evangeline Crist and Valerie Thong clinched the point for the Flames with a tiebreaking win over Olivia Lucas and Bridget Liddell.
 
Liberty took a 2-0 lead as Mariely Hassey defeated Ward, 6-4, 6-3, on court No. 1. Lucas followed with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) win at No. 2 singles to get the Phoenix on the board, but the Flames added wins over Maria Camara Ruiz and Kamilla Beisenova to clinch the match.
 
Braschi followed her doubles win with a singles victory, as the freshman dispatched Liberty's Yang in three sets, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.
 
Lazarova played a hard-fought match at No. 3 singles, but lost in three sets. The senior swept the tiebreaker to win the first set 7-6 before dropping the final two sets to lose the match.
 
Liberty improves to 10-2 on the season with the win, the Flames' eighth in its last nine matches.
 
Elon had won four straight matches since falling to 61^st-ranked Wake Forest on Feb. 7. The Phoenix drops to 5-5 on the season with the loss and travels to UNC-Wilmington for its first-ever Colonial Athletic Association match on Friday, March 13, at 2:00 p.m. The Phoenix will then return home to take on George Washington on March 15 at 1:00 p.m. at the JPTC.