FARMVILLE, Va. – The Big South preseason favorite stayed undefeated in conference play as 53rd-ranked Winthrop took down Longwood, 7-0, in the Lancers' return to their home court Friday afternoon.
 
The Eagles (10-2, 3-0 Big South), who received a league-high five first-place votes in the preseason coaches poll and entered the match ranked No. 53 in the ITA Division I rankings, extended their winning streak to three matches. Led by a pair of wins at No. 1 doubles and No. 1 singles from the 12-1 Lauren Proctor, Winthrop swept a Longwood team that had won four of its past seven matches.
 
The loaded Eagles, who have the No. 114 singles player in the country playing at No. 2, swept the doubles point and won in straight sets in five of six singles bouts. The exception was a three-set barnburner at No. 5 in which Lancer junior Mason Thomas took Megan Kaufmann to a third-set tiebreaker, only to lose by two games in a 4-6, 6-1, 11-9 loss.
 
"This was a tough match. Winthrop is probably one of the toughest teams we will play during the season, being ranked No. 53 in the country," said Longwood junior Paloma Alatorre, who fell 6-4, 6-0 to Caitlin Cridland at No. 4 singles. "However, I'm very proud of how the team played and fought until the last point."
 
The match was Longwood's (6-8, 1-3 Big South) first since the departure of second-year head coach Bruce Myers, who resigned from his post after accepting the head men's tennis coach position at the University of Delaware. Volunteering during the interim to share coaching duties while Longwood conducts a search for Myers' replacement will be head men's tennis coach Pierre Tafelski and assistant women's soccer coach Rich Stoneman, who were both on the court Friday.
 
"It wasn't easy playing without coach there, but all the support helped us very much," Alatorre said. "This match and the circumstances only motivate us even more. We have a big match tomorrow, so we're just focusing on what's next."
 
The Lancers, who remain just four wins away from winning 10-plus matches in back-to-back seasons for the first time in the Division I era, will get another chance to climb the Big South ranks when Gardner-Webb comes to the Lancer Courts Saturday. That match, which was originally scheduled for a first serve, will now begin at 9 a.m. due to projected inclement weather later in the day.
 
No. 53 Winthrop 7, Longwood 0
Mar 18, 2016
Farmville, Va. (Lancer Courts)
 
Singles
1. PROCTOR, Lauren (WUW) def. BURGER, Fallon (LWU) 6-2, 6-1
2. GARCIA, Alice (WUW) def. PELAK, Anna (LWU) 6-0, 6-2
3. HUMBERG, Mariana (WUW) def. GILL-REID, Isis (LWU) 6-2, 6-3
4. CRIDLAND, Caitlin (WUW) def. ALATORRE, Paloma (LWU) 6-4, 6-0
5. KAUFMANN, Megan (WUW) def. THOMAS, Mason (LWU) 4-6, 6-1, 11-9
6. UZELAC, Tijana (WUW) def. CORONEL, Maria (LWU) 6-1, 6-4
 
Doubles
1. PROCTOR, Lauren/HUMBERG, Mariana (WUW) def. GILL-REID, Isis/BURGER, Fallon (LWU) 6-3
2. CRIDLAND, Caitlin/KAUFMANN, Megan (WUW) def. PELAK, Anna/THOMAS, Mason (LWU) 6-1
3. GARCIA, Alice/UZELAC, Tijana (WUW) def. ALATORRE, Paloma/CORONEL, Maria (LWU) 6-1
 
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (1,2,4,3,5,6)
 
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