VCU Men’s Tennis lost to No. 60 Liberty with a score of 6-1 at the Thalhimer Tennis Center in Richmond, Va., on April 9.
The match was significant as it marked another challenging contest for VCU, whose record now stands at 6-12 overall and 2-0 in Atlantic 10 play. Liberty improved its season record to 12-9.
Liberty took an early lead by winning two out of three doubles matches. Erwann Bouchet and Gevorg Mnatsakanyan secured a win for the Rams on Court 1 with a score of 6-3, but Liberty claimed victories on Courts 2 and 3 to earn the doubles point. In singles play, Bouchet provided VCU’s only point after coming from behind to defeat Siwanat Auytayakul in three sets: “Tough match today, had chances on a few courts both in singles and in doubles, we’re putting ourselves in good positions, just gotta sprint over the finish line and close those matches out and we will be in a different place but at the end of the day you have to do it, that’s the difference in these matches. Good performance from Erwann,” said Dimi Kutrovsky.
Other singles contests saw close battles from Nicolo Consonni and Mnatsakanyan, both pushing their opponents to three sets before ultimately falling short. The detailed results showed competitive sets across all courts but were not enough for VCU to overcome Liberty’s strong lineup.
The Rams will next travel for an away match against ODU scheduled for Sunday, April 12.
