shines

at No. 2 singles spot in home loss

6-2, respectively, increasing Liberty’s lead to 3-0.

Saturday, Feb. 4, William and Mary (1-2) dropped a close match against Liberty (3-3) 4-3 at the McCormackNagelsen Tennis Center. This match marks the third of four season-opening home matches for the Tribe.

Despite momentum from its previous comeback victory against South Carolina State, the Tribe once again failed to win the doubles point.

Liberty’s doubles No. 3 team of senior Beau Pelletier and junior Thando Longwe-Smit defeated the Tribe’s team of graduate student Daniel Pellerito and sophomore Alexander Karman 6-3.

In the No. 1 doubles match, the Tribe found success with the tandem of graduate student Bill Duo and senior George Davis. The pair lead Liberty seniors Josh Wilson and Christiaan Worst 5-4, but Liberty clinched the contest with a doubles point win from the Flames’ No. 2 team of junior Deji Thomas-Smith and freshman Luis Felipe Miguel. The visiting pair defeated graduate students Joseph Brailovsky and Andres Silva 6-4.

The Tribe is yet to claim a doubles point in its three matches of the season so far.

Liberty extended its lead to 2-0, when Pelletier handily defeated Duo 6-2 and 6-4 in the No. 3 singles slot. At the No. 1 spot, Liberty’s All-Atlantic Sun Conference first-teamer Josh Wilson battled with Davis in a tightly-contested bout.

Davis won the opening set 6-3, only to drop the following two sets to Wilson 6-3 and

Senior forward Bre Bellamy plays an integral and expanding role in the success of William and Mary’s women’s basketball team (12-10, 7-4 CAA).

The Tribe, who is 7-3 in their last 10 games, continues to find success this year, in large part due to Bellamy on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.

Bellamy, who is averaging 7.1 points per game and a team-leading 6.2 rebounds per game, has been on an offensive tear for the last few games. She finished with a season-high 18 points against Hampton, one point short of a career-high, and recorded her third career double-double. In her next game, Bellamy found similar success, putting up 16 points in the team’s win over Monmouth on Feb. 5.

Bellamy attributed her recent success to her newfound aggressive mentality.

“I definitely feel more confident shooting the ball,” Bellamy said. “It helps to see it go in early on. But, I think most of all is the support that I have. I mean, constantly, no matter what, trying to not be discouraged. But I do miss those shots because the game of basketball is going to happen.

Felipe Miguel clinched the team victory for Liberty at the No. 5 singles spot with a win over Pellerito [6-3, 7-6] in straight sets.

The Tribe rallied back with Karman securing the first point for the Green and Gold at the No. 6 singles slot. After losing the first set to Liberty’s Longwe-Smit 6-4, Karman recovered with back-to-back set victories, winning the second set 7-5 and the tiebreaker 10-5. After transferring from Penn State, this marks Karman’s first dual-match victory with the Tribe and his seventh overall on the year.

At No. 2 singles, Brailovsky won in straight-sets, outplaying Liberty’s other AllAtlantic Sun Conference firstteamer Thomas-Smith, 7-5 and 7-6. Brailovsky advances his record at the No. 2 spot to 2-1, while improving his team-leading singles record to 12-6 on the year.

Joseph claimed the third and final point for the Tribe at the No. 4 singles spot. After winning the first set 6-4, Joseph dropped the second set 6-1 to Worst, pushing the match into a tiebreaker set. Joseph overpowered Worst in a commanding 7-1 performance, clinching the point and resulting in a final score of 4-3 to Liberty.

The Tribe will look to bounce back against Hampton University in its first Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) conference match of the season on Friday, Feb. 10, at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center. This game will mark the end of the Tribe’s four-match season-opening homestand.

So I know that my teammates are always picking me up.”

While her success on the offensive end has certainly helped the Tribe recently, Bellamy’s value to the team goes well beyond the box score.

Bellamy’s defense is integral to the team’s success. She is constantly relaying screens and switching to her teammates. Bellamy has 26 steals and eight blocks so far this season, each ranking in the top five on the team.