NORFOLK, Va. – The Longwood men's tennis team won 10 of 11 completed singles matches en route to earning a pair of victories Saturday afternoon over Virginia Wesleyan and Norfolk State. The Lancers earned a 4-2 win over Norfolk State, before dispatching Virginia Wesleyan, 7-0, in the afternoon match.

With the pair of wins, Longwood has now won a season-best three straight matches to improve to 6-15 overall.

"It was a solid effort from everyone and hopefully we can carry the momentum into our match with Hampton tomorrow afternoon," said head coach Marty Perry.

Longwood returns to action Sunday with a 1 p.m. match at Hampton, before returning home Monday for senior day against Bridgewater College.

Longwood 4, Norfolk State 2
After dropping the doubles point, Longwood rattled off four wins in singles to claim a 4-2 victory in the first match of the day Saturday over Norfolk State.

"I'm really proud of the way the guys pulled it out tonight against Norfolk State," Perry said.

The Spartans opened the match by winning the doubles point on courts two and three. On court two, the Longewood pair of Florian Uffer and Alfonso Castellano fell in a hard-fought battle against Pascal Dominik and Daniel Grauel, 8-7 (5). Meanwhile, the Lancer pair of Bharani Sankar and Rosen Ilchev were outlasted at the third spot by Shaheed Mourilon and Igor Braga, 8-6.

Longwood's top pair of Dan Elston and Steed Johnson won their match, 8-6, over the Spartan duo of Antonio Pejic and Fatedeep Singh.

"We put ourselves in position to sweep all three doubles matches, but couldn't convert and dropped the doubles point," Perry said. 

Longwood responded in singles by taking four of the six matches, while Elston's match at the top spot was left unfinished, 5-7, 4-3, against Dominik.

Uffer and Ilchev posted a pair of straight set victories on courts four and six, respectively. On court four, Uffer picked up a 6-3, 6-2 win over Grauel, while Ilchev cruised to a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Mourillon.

At the No. 3 spot in the order, Johnson added a third Longwood victory in a decisive third set over Braga, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3). Meanwhile, Castellano outlasted Pejic and won the match by virtue of retirement at the No. 2 spot, 4-6, 7-6, 1-0 ret.

"All season long, we haven't been able to recover after being down, 1-0," Perry said. "Steed and Alfonso both came back from a set down to clinch the match."

Longwood's lone loss in singles came at the No. 5 slot, where Singh defeated Sankar, 3-6, 6-7.

Longwood 7, Virginia Wesleyan 0
Longwood cruised to victory in its second match of the day, as the Lancers posted a 7-0 victory over Virginia Wesleyan.

The Lancers took the doubles point with a pair of wins at the first and third positions in the lineup. Longwood's third pair of Sankar and Ilchev cruised past Spenser Bullock and Drew Tomajczyk, 8-0, while the dynamic pair of Elston and Johnson sealed the opening point with an 8-5 victory over Graham Wilson and Adam Rosemblaum.

Elston was dominant atop the singles lineup, not dropping a set against Wilson en route to a 6-0, 6-0 victory. Castellano and Johnson also posted a pair of straight set victories, as Castellano earned a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles over Kenneth Downing. Johnson posted his second win of the day at the No. 3 spot against Rosemblaum, 6-2, 6-0.

Uffer picked up a 6-4, 6-4 win over Bullock at the No. 4 spot, while Sankar played in the closest match and outlasted Tomajczyk, 3-6, 6-3, 10-1. Lachlan Manser concluded the sweep of the match, dispatching Brendan Kelleher, 6-2, 6-4.

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