Flames Tennis Announces Non-Conference Heavy 2023-24 Schedule
Liberty Flames Tennis has announced its 2023-24 fall and spring regular season schedule as the program begins a transition into Conference USA.
The fall schedule includes six tournaments, highlighted by Liberty hosting the ITA Atlantic Regional from Oct. 11-16.
“It’s an opportunity to play on our home courts,” said head coach Derek Schwandt regarding hosting the ITA Atlantic Regional. “Guys like playing at home, and we get good crowds at home. We love our Liberty fans.”
The spring schedule features zero CUSA opponents across the regular season as Liberty transitions into the conference. The Flames will compete in the CUSA Men’s Tennis Championship that begins on April 19, hosted by Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The CUSA tournament will mark the Flames’ CUSA debut.
The schedule set up with no conference matches allowed Liberty the flexibility to schedule challenging non-conference opponents more than most years.
“The idea of our schedule is to challenge our team to get better and better and better,” Schwandt said. “We want to be at our peak for the Conference USA tournament at Middle Tennessee.”
Liberty will open the spring 2024 season by visiting two-time defending NCAA Champion Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., on Jan. 13. The Flames hosted Virginia last season in front of an at-capacity crowd as the Cavaliers swept the Flames’ home opener falls on Jan. 21 as the squad will host Radford at the Liberty Indoor Tennis Center.
The Flames will face seven total in-state programs including James Madison, Old Dominion and VCU.
Liberty accepted the invitation to return to the Diablos Tennis Tournament hosted by Arizona State beginning March 1. In 2023, the Flames went 1-2 in the tournament which included a win over No. 67 Michigan State.
Liberty will be facing five teams that they previously faced in the spring 2023 season, including programs they were victorious over in Penn State, Charlotte, Old Dominion and William & Mary.
The Flames look to improve on a 17-10 schedule that concluded with a title in the first-ever Universal Tennis NIT Championship that included two wins over ranked foes including besting No. 69 Vanderbilt 4-1, to claim the title.
