FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood's home court advantage is in full effect. The Lancer women's tennis team improved to 4-0 on Longwood's campus following a dominant 7-0 sweep of visiting Chowan Wednesday afternoon.
 
Sparked by a doubles sweep at the outset, Longwood (8-10) rode that momentum into singles play where ace Malin Allgurin keyed one of five straight-sets singles wins to inch closer to Longwood's all-time wins record. Allgurin, who already owns the school's Division I singles wins record with a 57 career victories, is now within seven of tying Laura Veazey's 64 wins set from 1998-2002.
 
"We had another good effort on our home courts," first-year head coach Bruce Myers said. "Chowan was solid up top, but we were finally able to put together an entire match where everybody one through six played very well. I hope this carries over to our next two matches, both at home and both against Big South opponents."
 
Chowan (11-5) won just one singles set on the day and took more than three games in just three of those 13 combined sets.
 
Allgurin and doubles partner Paloma Alatorre punctuated the doubles sweep with an 8-4 win at No. 1 over Nati Kamenshchikova and Vika Smolchenkova, following wins of 8-2 at No. 2 from Anna Pelak and Nicole Parker and 8-1 at No. 3 from Mason Thomas and Maria Coronel.
 
Alatorre followed by winning her third straight singles bout, 6-2, 6-0, over Jessy DeBackre at No. 4 before Mason Thomas continued her hot streak by upending Nati Andrade at No. 5, 6-1, 6-2, for her fourth win in her last five matches.
 
Allgurin and Parker followed with wins at No. 1 and No. 6, respectively, before Maria Coronel held off Vika Smolchenkova, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), in a second-set tiebreak at No. 3. Anna Pelak, who has played at the No. 2 spot for all but her one her matches in her sophomore season, grinded out a 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 comeback win over Polina Novachuk at No. 2 for her third win her last five outings.
 
The win gives Longwood eight wins on the year, five shy of tying the school's Division I record of 13 set by the 2009-10 squad. Longwood has five matches remaining in the regular season, the next four of which will be at home.  The Lancers resume Big South play Thursday against Campbell at 1 p.m. and host Presbyterian Saturday at 11 a.m. on Lancer Courts.
 
Longwood 7, Chowan 0
March 25, 2015
Farmville, Va. (Longwood University)
 
Doubles
No. 1: Malin Allgurin/Paloma Alatorre (LWU) def. Nati Kamenshcikova/Vika Smolchenkova (CHO) 8-4
No. 2: Anna Pelak/Nicole Parker (LWU) def. Jessy De Backre/Polina Novachuk (CHO) 8-2
No. 3: Mason Thomas/Maria Coronel (LWU) def. Straffai Cleveland/Natalia Andrade (CHO) 8-1
 
Singles
No. 1: Malin Allgurin (LWU) def. Natalya Kamenshcikova (CHO) 6-1, 6-3
No. 2: Anna Pelak (LWU) def. Polina Novachuk (CHO) 3-6, 6-2, 6-0
No. 3: Maria Coronel (LWU) def. Vika Smolchenkova (CHO) 6-2 ,7-6 (7-4)
No. 4: Paloma Alatorre (LWU) def. Jessy De Backre (CHO) 6-2, 6-0
No. 5: Mason Thomas (LWU) def. Nati Andrade (CHO) 6-1, 6-2
No. 6: Nicole Parker (LWU) def. Straffai Cleveland (CHO) 6-0, 6-4
 
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