LYNCHBURG, Va. - For the third time in as many days, Longwood men's tennis picked up three wins - this time it was the tandem of Big South Freshman of the Year Amadeo Blasco and current freshman Valentin Popescu.

Following a season in which he took the Big South by storm colleting 20 wins in both singles and doubles, sophomore ace Blasco has collected 10 wins already this fall after a 2-0 day advancing through the Round of 32 and Round of 16 at the ITA Atlantic Regionals.

Entering as the No. 16 seed in singles play, Blasco fought through a three-set match against La Salle's Rodrigo Magalhaes 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 before dominating No. 2 seed Constant De La Bassetiere from Penn State in a 6-1, 6-0 straight-set thumping upset.

Blasco's straight-set win over Bassetiere is even more impressive as it comes as the highest-ranked foe - No. 118 in the ITA national preseason rankings - a Lancer has taken down in program history. The win adds on to an already impressive career just three semesters into college as Blasco has already collected 30 career singles wins and became the program's first player of the week and first Big South Player or Freshman of the Year recipient.

The 2-0 Sunday pushes Blasco into the quarterfinals round where he will take on No. 8 seeded Aswin Lizen from Virginia at 10 a.m. Monday morning, making him the first Lancer to ever make it past the Round of 16 in the ITA Regionals tournament.

After fighting through back-to-back full-set wins, freshman lefty Popescu secured his first sweep of the tournament over Old Dominion's Jacob Nicolussi via a 7-6(5), 6-1 upset of the No. 9 seed. 

Popescu, however, found himself in yet another full-set match in the Round of 16 but fell short this time by a 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 margin to Virginia Tech's Alexandre Ribeiro and No. 7 overall seed.

The victories from Blasco and Popescu made them the first Lancers to ever reach the Round of 16 in singles play at the ITA tournament surpassing former greats Nobu Tanaka - who currently holds many individual program records, and Marc Ferrigno. Sunday's wins also broke the program's record at an individual ITA tournament as they have posted a 9-3 record besting their 6-3 performance just last season.

Blasco will look to continue his winning ways as another win Monday morning would push him into the semifinals later in the day with the championships slated for Tuesday. If Blasco keeps winning, it would be his second singles title this fall and third overall championship for Longwood men's tennis in just three tournaments played.

Round of 32 Singles:
Blasco (LWU) def. Magalhaes (La Salle) 6-0, 2-6, 6-2
Popescu (LWU) def. Nicolussi (ODU) 7-6(5), 6-1

Round of 16 Singles:
Blasco (LWU) def. Bassetiere (PSU) 6-1, 6-0
Ribeiro (VT) def. Popescu (LWU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-1

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