Charleston Southern University Athletics
Liberty - Semifinals
4/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Sophie Cloessner clinched the deciding point on court no. 5 as top-seed Charleston Southern topped No. 4 Liberty in the 2015 Big South semifinal matchup on Friday morning, 4-2.
The victory advances the Bucs to Saturday's championship match. It will be the third straight season the Bucs advance to the tournament finale where CSU now awaits the winner of this afternoon's matchup between No. 2 Coastal Carolina and No. 3 Winthrop. First serve in doubles play is set for noon at the Asheville Racquet Club.
The Bucs entered the match having won the past seven doubles points, but found themselves in an unfamiliar hole after dropping the doubles point to the Flames. However, strong singles performances by Marketa Placha, Yvonne Hubler and Valeria Koussenkova led to Cloessner's clinching victory to propel the Bucs to Saturday's championship match.
Cloessner entered the afternoon on a 14-match winning streak, but had her work cut out for her on court no. 5, falling in the first set to Liberty's Brittany Yang, 7-5. The freshman from Wetzlar, Germany, rebounded with a 6-4 win in the second set to even the match. Follow a Liberty injury timeout with Cloessner leading 4-0 in the third set, the CSU freshman closed out the point taking two of the final three games to clinch the victory.
Placha started the CSU singles wins on court no. 1 as the 2015 Big South Player of the Year did not drop a game in defeating Mariely Hassey, 6-0, 6-0.
After the Flames took the win on court no. 3 with Maria Khval's 6-3, 6-1 win over CSU's Angelica Sidorenko, to put Liberty ahead 2-1, Koussenkova evened the match on court no. 6.
Koussenkova did not line up against the Flames in the team's first match back on March 21st, but the Big South Singles Flight No. 6 Champion tied the overall match up 2-2 with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Liberty's Emily Groeneveld.
Hubler put the Bucs within one of taking the match as the CSU senior rallied after dropping the first set to take the final two, winning 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 over Belen Rivera on court no. 2. The victory avenged Hubler's only loss in the Big South regular season as Rivera took the match in Lynchburg in three sets.
With the Bucs needing only one point, attention turned to the play on courts 4 and 5 with the matchup between CSU's Mi'Kola Cooper and Liberty's Evangeline Crist on 4, while Cloessner and Yang battled on five.
The Bucs dropped the first set on both courts, but CSU rallied back with Cooper topping Crist, 6-1, while Cloessner defeated Yang 6-4.
Following Cloessner's 6-1 win on court no. 5 to take the match, play was halted on court no. 4 in the third set with Crist leading 5-0.
The Flames took the first point of the day and ended CSU's doubles streak, winning on courts 1 and 3 to take the 1-0 lead.
Yang and Khval topped Sidorenko and Cooper, 8-6, on court no. 1, while Hassey and Groeneveld topped Placha and Cloessner on court no. 3, 8-6. The Flames had the 7-5 lead on court no. 2 when play was halted.
Charleston Southern 4, Liberty 2
Apr 17, 2015 at Asheville, N.C. (Asheville Racquet Club)
Singles competition
1. Marketa Placha (CSU) def. HASSEY, Mariely (LIBERTY) 6-0, 6-0
2. Yvonne Hubler (CSU) def. RIVERA, Belen (LIBERTY) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
3. KHVAL, Maria (LIBERTY) def. Angelica Sidorenko (CSU) 6-3, 6-1
4. Mi'Kola Cooper (CSU) vs. CRIST, Evangeline (LIBERTY) 6-7 (6-8), 6-1, 0-5, unfinished
5. Sophie Cloessner (CSU) def. YANG, Brittany (LIBERTY) 5-7, 6-4, 6-1
6. Valeria Koussenkova (CSU) def. GROENEVELD, Emily (LIBERTY) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. KHVAL, Maria/YANG, Brittany (LIBERTY) def. Angelica Sidorenko/Mi'Kola Cooper (CSU) 8-6
2. Yvonne Hubler/Nicolin Luecke (CSU) vs. THONG, Valerie/CRIST, Evangeline (LIBERTY) 5-7, unfinished
3. HASSEY, Mariely/GROENEVELD, Emily (LIBERTY) def. Marketa Placha/Sophie Cloessner (CSU) 8-6
Match Notes
Liberty 18-5
Charleston Southern 17-2
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (1,3,6,2,5)
Official: Wayne Tesh
