LYNCHBURG, Va. – A first-round battle in the opening match of the 2016 Big South Women's Tennis Championship came down to the final set, but it was ninth-seeded Radford's Grace Sarver who clinched a 4-3 upset victory over eighth-seeded Longwood Friday afternoon at the Cook Tennis Center.
 
With the match tied at 3-3 and only Sarver and Longwood junior Paloma Alatorre left to battle on the courts, Sarver bounced back from a second-set loss to take the third set 6-2 and push the Highlanders (2-14) into the quarterfinals. Sarver's 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win over the Lancer tri-captain stopped Longwood's comeback in its tracks, halting a surge that saw Lancer senior Maria Coronel and freshman Isis Gill-Reid win back-to-back matches to tie the score at 3-3.
 
Radford will move on to face tournament host and top-seeded Liberty in Saturday's Big South quarterfinals while Longwood (10-14) ends the season with double-digit wins for the second straight year.
 
"These ladies knew coming in it was going to be a fight to advance," said interim head coach Rich Stoneman. "We felt very strong about the strength of our ladder. We fought hard, but we got dealt a blow at the end. I take full responsibility for us not advancing. These ladies fought hard and were loyal to the cause of our program."
 
The Lancers' 2015-16 success, which also included their highest-ever Big South finish, came despite the departure of second-year head coach Bruce Myers in March. Longwood rallied Stoneman to win four more bouts down the stretch and came within four games Friday of moving on to the quarterfinals.
 
"Whoever takes over this group is one lucky coach," Stoneman said. "This is a great team that will fight for you. I appreciate everything they've done for me. These ladies were Lancer Strong in every sense of that phrase."
 
Longwood persevered in singles despite falling victim to a Radford comeback in doubles play. The Highlanders fought back from a 1-0 deficit after Alatorre and Maria Coronel defeated Highlanders Taylor Fay and Claire Nguyen 6-3 at No. 3. Sarver and Natalie Sayer evened the score with a 6-4 win over Longwood's top duo of Fallon Burger and Isis-Gill Reid, setting the stage for a doubles-clinching showdown between Longwood No. 2 duo Anna Pelak and Mason Thomas opposite Highlanders Tarrannum Handa and Meili Martin. Pelak and Thomas led 6-5 before Handa and Martin rallied to take the next set and force a tiebreak, which they ran away with 7-3.
 
Thomas responded immediately after the doubles loss, making quick work of Fay at No. 5 singles, 6-2, 6-2 for her team-leading 10th win of the year. Radford quickly turned the tables again, however, with back-to-back wins at the top two singles spots from Sayer and Handa over Burger and Pelak.
 
Down 3-1 and just one point away from elimination to their final point, Coronel pulled out her career-best 10th win of the year, 6-3, 6-3, over Karlie Pope to make it 3-2, and Gill-Reid knotted it at 3-3 with a comeback win over Martin at No. 3, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Alatorre was deadlocked 1-1 in her showdown against Sarver at that point, but the Radford senior pulled away in the third set to give the Highlanders the win.
 
The win bookends Longwood's 2015-16 season and signals the end of Coronel's playing career as a Lancer. The senior from Arequipa, Peru, had her best collegiate season as a senior, finishing 10-8 in singles play and 5-12 with doubles partner Paloma Alatorre. She will be the lone Lancer graduating in May, giving Longwood five of its top six players returning for next season, all at spots 1-5.
 
Radford 4, Longwood 3 (Big South – First Round)
April 15, 2016
Lynchburg, Va. (Cook Tennis Center)
 
Singles
1. SAYER, Natalie (RAD) def. BURGER, Fallon (LWU) 6-2, 7-5
2. HANDA, Tarrannum (RAD) def. PELAK, Anna (LWU) 6-2, 6-2
3. GILL-REID, Isis (LWU) def. MARTIN, Meili (RAD) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
4. SARVER, Grace (RAD) def. ALATORRE, Paloma (LWU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
5. THOMAS, Mason (LWU) def. FAY, Taylor (RAD) 6-2, 6-2
6. CORONEL, Maria (LWU) def. POPE, Karlie (RAD) 6-3, 6-3
 
Doubles
1. SAYER, Natalie/SARVER, Grace (RAD) def. BURGER, Fallon/GILL-REID, Isis (LWU) 6-4
2. HANDA, Tarrannum/MARTIN, Meili (RAD) def. PELAK, Anna/THOMAS, Mason (LWU) 7-6 (7-3)
3. ALATORRE, Paloma/CORONEL, Maria (LWU) def. FAY, Taylor/NGUYEN, Claire (RAD) 6-3
 
Match Notes
Radford 1-14, 1-8 BSC
Longwood 10-13, 2-7 BSC
 
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,1,2,6,3,4)

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