FARMVILLE, Va. – In a match that went down to the wire, Radford came away with a 4-3 win to hand Longwood men's tennis a heartbreaking loss Sunday in its final Big South match at Lancer Courts this season.
 
Radford (2-12, 1-5 BSC) sophomore Nikhil Manneppalli held off a comeback attempt by Longwood (6-12, 0-7 BSC) junior Rosen Ilchev for a  6-4, 6-4 win at the No. 4 in the final singles finish of the afternoon to give the Highlanders their first conference win of the season. Ilchev put up a spirited comeback attempt by winning four consecutive games to pull even with Manneppalli at four apiece in the second set, but Manneppalli stole the last two to end the Lancers' hopes of taking the match-clincher to a third and deciding set.
 
"This one is tough to lose, especially since this was one of the best chances that we had to win one in conference play," said Longwood No. 5 Bharani Sankar.
 
Despite dropping the doubles point, Longwood fought back with wins at the Nos. 1-3 positions to claim a 3-2 lead with two singles bouts remaining in the match.
 
Freshman Julian Farthing picked up his fifth consecutive win at the No. 3 to give the Lancers their first point of the afternoon. Farthing defeated Radford freshman Alexandros Caldwell 6-0, 7-6 to cut Longwood's early deficit.
 
Longwood then received back-to-back victories from junior Florian Uffer and sophomore Alfonso Castellano to give them a chance for match point. In the No. 2 singles match, Uffer bested Radford junior Samuel Taylor 7-5, 6-1 while Castellano earned a 6-1, 7-5 victory vs. Janken Thoen at the No. 1.
 
However, the doubles-point win for the Highlanders proved crucial as they were able to extend the match up until the sixth finish with singles wins by Michiel Meekers and Jose Moreno Manzano at the Nos. 5-6. Jose Moreno Manzano topped Lancer sophomore Lachlan Manser 6-2, 6-2 at No. 6 to give Radford a 2-1 advantage following the first singles decision.
 
At the No. 5, Meekers earned a huge three-set win after holding off the Lancer senior Sankar to bring the match even at 3-3 to set up Manneppali's match-clinching win. Despite giving up the first set, Sankar battled back for a 6-4 win in the second set before Meekers took the final 6-2 to help the Highlanders avoid defeat.
 
"We're struggling in doubles a bit, but in singles everybody's fighting hard," Sankar said. "Alfonso [Castellano], Florian [Uffer], and Julian [Farthing] have all been really solid from the middle of the season to now. It's really up to the rest of us at Nos. 4 to 6 to step up and see what we can do to pull out a win."
 
Despite dropping three singles matches, Radford claimed what would wind up being a very important point with doubles wins by the pairings of Moreno Manzano and Meekers, and Taylor and Manneppalli. Highlanders Manneppalli and Taylor secured the doubles point victory after earning a 6-3 win over Lancers Uffer and Manser at the No. 2.
 
Longwood will now head back on the road in search of a conference win its final match of Big South play at Presbyterian Monday, April 4. The match is slated for a 3 p.m. start.
 
"Tomorrow's a big day for us against a tough Presbyterian team, but I feel like we'll have a chance if we continue to play as well as we did in singles," said Sankar.
 
#GoWood

 
Match Results
 
Longwood 3, Radford 4
 
Singles
1. CASTELLANO, Alfonso (LWU) def. THOEN, Janken (RAD) 6-1, 7-5
2. UFFER, Florian (LWU) def. TAYLOR, Samuel (RAD) 7-5, 6-1
3. FARTHING, Julian (LWU) def. CALDWELL, Alexandros (RAD) 6-0, 7-6
4. MANNEPALLI, Nikhil (RAD) def. ILCHEV, Rosen (LWU) 6-4, 6-4
5. MEEKERS, Michiel (RAD) def. SANKAR, Bharani (LWU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
6. MORENO MANZANO, Jose (RAD) def. MANSER, Lachlan (LWU) 6-2, 6-2
 
Doubles
1. THOEN/CALDWELL (RAD) def. CASTELLANO, Alfonso/FARTHING, Julian (LWU) 5-3
2. TAYLOR, Samuel/MANNEPALLI, Nikhil (RAD) def. UFFER, Florian/MANSER, Lachlan (LWU) 6-3
3. MORENO MANZANO, Jose/MEEKERS, Michiel (RAD) def. SANKAR, Bharani/ILCHEV, Rosen (LWU) 6-1
 
Match Notes:

Order of finish:

Doubles: 3,2

Singles: 6,3,2,1,5,4