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FARMVILLE, Va. – Gardner-Webb grabbed an early lead and held off two late singles victories to take down Longwood 5-2 Saturday morning at Lancer Courts.
 
Longwood (6-9, 1-4 Big South), playing their second match in a 24-hour span, battled the Runnin' Bulldogs throughout the lineup, but Gardner-Webb survived multiple tight sets to leap the Lancers into the top half of the Big South standings. Longwood picked up wins at No. 1 doubles, and Nos. 4 and 6 singles, but a 5-0 hole proved too much to overcome.
 
Longwood's freshman duo of Fallon Burger and Isis Gill-Reid blocked a doubles sweep with a dramatic 7-6 (7-1) doubles win at No. 1, but Gardner-Webb (5-8, 2-2 Big South) stomped that momentum by taking four straight singles bouts in straight sets.
 
"In the beginning of doubles I felt kind of sluggish and wasn't going for the balls I should have," said Burger, who has played every one of her matches as Longwood's No. 1 in singles and doubles.  "After a couple games passed, though, I felt pumped up and was able to play better. I poached a lot and found some more consistency, and Isis and I were able to find our groove."
 
However, the doubles win came after Gardner-Webb had already secured the point with 6-3 and 6-2 wins at Nos. 2 and 3. Catherine White carried that momentum into singles play for the Bulldogs, making it a 2-0 advantage following a 6-4, 6-0 win over Mason Thomas at No. 5.
 
Burger was within striking distance of taking the first set at No. 1 singles, but fell 7-5 to Gardner-Webb ace Rokia Sacko. The narrow loss was too much for Burger to overcome as Sacko parlayed it into a 6-0 win in the second set for a 3-0 Gardner-Webb lead.
 
"In singles, I kept up the momentum and was able to keep up with [Sacko], but I started to get down on myself," Burger said. "It turned into a snowball effect after that."
 
The snowball continued to roll for Gardner-Webb after that, as Stina Magnusson jumped out to an early advantage with a 6-2 first-set win over Lancer No. 2 Anna Pelak. Pelak rallied to take Magnusson to the wire in the second frame but fell in a barnburner of a second set, 7-5, to allow Magnusson to clinch Gardner-Webb's victory.
 
Gill-Reid fell in similar fashion as Pelak at No. 3, falling 6-2, 7-5 to Sandra Bolstad before junior Paloma Alatorre finally put the Lancers on the board with a bounceback win at No. 4 singles. Alatorre dropped her first singles set to Sarah Rieckmann 6-2 but stormed back to steal her fifth singles victory with wins of 6-1 and 6-4 in the final frames. The victory snapped a three-match win streak for Rieckmann, who entered the matchup 5-4 as Gardner-Webb's No. 4.
 
Lancer senior Maria Coronel won her first set against Laura Fermosel at No. 6, 6-2, and was leading 5-4 before the match concluded early.
 
After playing on back-to-back days at home, the Lancers will get a week to prepare for a road showdown against Commonwealth foe George Mason next Saturday, March 26. Longwood then returns home for a March 27 matchup against Hampton.
 
Gardner-Webb 5, Longwood 2
March 19, 2016
Farmville, Va. (Lancer Courts)
 
Singles
1. SACKO, Rokia (GWU) def. BURGER, Fallon (LWU) 7-5, 6-0
2. MAGNUSSON, Stina (GWU) def. PELAK, Anna (LWU) 6-2, 7-5
3. BOLSTAD, Sandra (GWU) def. GILL-REID, Isis (LWU) 6-2, 7-5
4. ALATORRE, Paloma (LWU) def. RIECKMANN, Sarah (GWU) 2-6, 6-1, 6-4
5. WHITE, Catherine (GWU) def. THOMAS, Mason (LWU) 6-4, 6-0
6. CORONEL, Maria (LWU) def. FERMOSEL, Laura (GWU) 6-2, unfinished
 
Doubles
1. BURGER, Fallon/GILL-REID, Isis (LWU) def. BOLSTAD, Sandra/MAGNUSSON, Stina (GWU) 7-6 (7-1)
2. SACKO, Rokia/MIXON, Mary Walker (GWU) def. PELAK, Anna/THOMAS, Mason (LWU) 6-3
3. WHITE, Catherine/RIECKMANN, Sarah (GWU) def. ALATORRE, Paloma/CORONEL, Maria (LWU) 6-2
 
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (5,1,2,3,4,6)
 
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