MURFREESBORO, N.C. – In the midst of a three-day gauntlet of tennis, Longwood's junior trio stepped up.
 
Playing their second of three matches in a three-day span during the final week before the start of the 2016 Big South Championship, Lancer upperclassmen Paloma Alatorre, Anna Pelak and Mason Thomas accounted for all five points to lead Longwood to a 5-4 win over a NCCAA-leading Division II Chowan (16-6) that remains undefeated in conference play and had won 12 of its past 15 bouts entering Monday.
 
The victory was the milestone 10th of the season for the Lancers (10-13, 2-7 Big South), who followed their junior trio to two doubles wins and three quick singles wins to stake a 5-1 lead that was enough to lock up the victory. Pelak's 6-4, 6-0 win over Victori Smolchenkova clinched it, giving the Lancers their fifth double-digit win season in nine years as a Division I program.
 
Longwood now has only Tuesday's home finale against Hampton standing between them and the 2016 Big South Women's Tennis Championship, where they will face No. 9 Radford as the No. 8 seed Friday at 11 a.m. in Lynchburg, Va.
 
"Today was a great win for us as a team," said Pelak, who also paired with junior classmate Mason Thomas for their fifth doubles win in the past seven matches. "It's been a little rough this past week, but we were strong, held ourselves together, fought for every point and came away with another win. This match will give us confidence going into the Big South Tourney. I'm so happy for the team."
 
The 2015-16 Lancers have now matched last year's squad with 10 wins, marking the first back-to-back 10-win campaigns in the program's nine-year Division I era. That milestone came despite the program losing its second-year head coach, Bruce Myers, who departed on March 18 to take over as head coach of the men's program at Delaware State.
 
In Myers' place, Longwood associate head women's soccer coach Rich Stoneman stepped in as interim head coach and has since guided the team to a 4-5 record and the No. 8 seed in the Big South Championship. The latest in that string of victories came on the strength of its juniors, as Alatorre, Pelak and Thomas all won at doubles and singles to account for all five points.
 
Playing under the nine-point Division II format, Longwood gained an early edge over Chowan (16-6) by taking a pair of doubles points. Pelak and Thomas got the first of those with an 8-1 win over Cynthia Carrier and Angelique Gouin. Alatorre and freshman Tess Willis followed with an 8-3 win at No. 3 against Roxana Daneshjoo and Anna Makhneva.
 
From there, Thomas, Alatorre and Pelak followed in succession to make it 5-1 Lancers before the Hawks closed out the match with three straight singles victories of their own.
 
Longwood will now have a chance to cap the regular season with 11 wins when Hampton comes to the Lancer Courts for Tuesday's regular season finale. That will be Longwood's final tuneup before heading into the first round of the Big South Championship, which this year takes place on No. 1 seed Liberty's home court.
 
Longwood 5, Chowan 4
April 11, 2016
Chowan University (Rose Family Tennis Complex)
 
Singles
1. NOVACHUK,Polina (CHO) def. BURGER, Fallon (LWU) 7-6 (4-0), 2-6, 4-0
2. PELAK, Anna (LWU) def. SMOLCHENKOVA,Victori (CHO) 6-4, 6-0
3. CARRIER,Cynthia (CHO) def. GILL-REID, Isis (LWU) 7-6 (4-0), 6-3
4. ALATORRE, Paloma (LWU) def. GOUIN,Angelique (CHO) 6-0, 6-0
5. THOMAS, Mason (LWU) def. DE BACKRE,Jessica (CHO) 6-0, 6-0
6. MAKHNEVA,Anna (CHO) def. WILLIS, Tess (LWU) 6-4, 6-3
 
Doubles
1. NOVACHUK,Polina/SMOLCHENKOVA,Victori (CHO) def. BURGER, Fallon/GILL-REID, Isis (LWU) 8-3
2. PELAK, Anna/THOMAS, Mason (LWU) def. CARRIER,Cynthia/GOUIN,Angelique (CHO) 8-1
3. ALATORRE, Paloma/WILLIS, Tess (LWU) def. DANESHJOO,Roxana/MAKHNEVA,Anna (CHO) 8-3
 
Match Notes
Longwood 10-13
Chowan 16-6
 
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (5,4,2,6,3,1)

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