ASHEVILLE, N.C. – UNC Asheville rode an early lead with the  doubles point and wins in the first two singles finishes en route to a 5-2 victory over Longwood men's tennis in Saturday afternoon's Big South match at the Asheville Racquet Club Downtown.
 
The Bulldogs (9-7, 5-2 BSC) nearly swept the Lancers (6-11, 0-6 BSC) as they took three out of the first four singles points of the match after claiming the doubles point in the win.
 
Longwood freshman Julian Farthing stepped up at the No. 3 spot to end Asheville's chances at an overall sweep by beating senior Thomas Orestis-Panoulas. Farthing's 6-1, 6-3 victory over Oresits-Panoulas marked his fourth consecutive singles win and fifth in his last six appearances at the No. 3.
 
"The guys came out strong in singles to get our two points," said Longwood head coach Pierre Tafelski. "We will be ready for our last home conference match tomorrow and hope to use the confidence we've been gaining throughout the semester.
 
Senior Bharani Sankar also picked up a singles point for the Lancers after fighting to a three-set win vs. UNC Asheville senior Brett Landau. Landau battled his way back to even the match with a 6-1 win in the second set, but Sankar rode 6-4 wins in the first and deciding set to pick up his second overall victory in his last three singles bouts.
 
In the No. 4 singles bout, the Big South's fourth-ranked No. 4 Josh Swindler claimed the match point for Asheville with his 6-1, 7-5 victory over Lancer junior Rosen Ilchev.
 
Longwood will now return to Lancer Courts for its conference home finale vs. Radford Sunday. The match is slated for a 1 p.m. start.
 
#GoWood

Match Results
Longwood 2, UNC Asheville 5

Singles
1. CROKER, Alex (AVL) def. CASTELLANO, Alfonso (LWU) 6-4, 6-3
2. PATTEN, Henry (AVL) def. UFFER, Florian (LWU) 6-2, 6-3
3. FARTHING, Julian (LWU) def. ORESTIS-PANOULAS, Thomas (AVL) 6-2, 6-4
4. SWINDLER, Josh (AVL) def. ILCHEV, Rosen (LWU) 6-1, 7-5
5. SANKAR, Bharani (LWU) def. LANDAU, Brett (AVL) 6-4, 1-6, 7-5
6. KRIPAK, Daniel (AVL) def. MANSER, Lachlan (LWU) 6-2, 6-2

Doubles
1. CROKER/LANDAU (AVL) def. CASTELLANO/FARTHING (LWU) 6-1
2. PATTEN/SWINDLER (AVL) def. UFFER/MANSER (LWU) 6-0
3. SANKAR/ILCHEV (LWU) vs. ORESTIS-PANOULAS/DILLON (AVL) no result