GREENVILLE, N.C. – The Longwood University men's tennis team faced a 6-1 defeat at East Carolina University (1-1) on Friday afternoon at the ECU Tennis Complex. The Lancers were led by junior Steed Johnson/Ashokie N.C. who logged his squad's lone win in singles play. Longwood (0-1) will take back to the courts tomorrow, Saturday, January 25, to take on Kennesaw State University in a neutral site contest in Greenville, N.C. at 11 a.m.

"It was very apparent that today was our first match of the season," said head coach Jakob Gustafsson. "I saw both extra match jitters, as well as some rusty tennis on the big points. ECU is a quality program and you cannot afford to miss a lot of opportunities or to play the big points with doubts against them. It was a decent starting point for us, but we need to play better already tomorrow."

Johnson defeated Mario Martinez of ECU in three sets (6-3, 2-6, 6-5 (4)) in the No. 3 position for the Lancers. Junior Daniel Elston/St. Austell, Cornwall, England and senior Edward Becker/Sydney, Australia fell at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions, respectively. Elston's match ended in a 6-3, 6-4 decision, while Becker suffered a 6-3, 6-2 setback. Freshman Warren Bryan/Greensboro, N.C., and sophomores Bharani Sankar/Glen Allen, Va. and James Fudge/Kaarst, Germany all faced setbacks in the remaining singles matches.

In doubles action, Elston and Becker fell at the No. 1 spot 6-5 (5), as did the duo of Bryan and Johnson (6-2) at No. 2, and Sankar and Fudge (6-3) at No. 3.

Singles
1. Elston LOST against Soriano 6-3, 64
2. Becker LOST against Lehfeldt 6-3, 6-2
3. Johnson WON against Martinez 6-3, 2-6, 6-5 (4)
4. Bryan LOST against Bernard 6-2, 6-0
5. Sankar LOST against Roller 6-1, 6-0
6. Fudge LOST against Gregory 6-2, 6-1

Doubles
1. Elston/Becker LOST against Soriano/Wolterbeeh 6-5 (5)
2. Bryan/Johnson LOST against Roller/Morris 6-2
3. Sankar/Fudge LOST against Nigro/Ibluet 6-3