FARMVILLE, Va. – Backed by a match-clinching singles win from freshman Amadeo Blasco, the Longwood men's tennis team continued its historic pace by edging UNC Asheville 4-3 Saturday afternoon at the Hampden-Sydney Tennis Courts.
 
The win was the fifth in the past six matches for the breakout Lancers (8-2, 3-1 Big South), who climbed into second place in the Big South standings thanks to another dominant performance in singles play. Lancers Blasco, Julian Farthing, Arthur Bardellotto and Noah Petralia won at Nos. 2-5 – all in straight sets – to overcome a doubles point loss and propel Longwood to its second straight win.
 
The win is the most recent gut-check victory for a Longwood program that has turned the Big South's preseason expectations upside down. Now in second place in the Big South behind only 3-0 Campbell, the Lancers have shrugged off a predicted last-place finish by the league's coaches to take down three teams expected to finish well ahead of them in the standings, adding preseason No. 6 UNC Asheville to a list that already includes No. 1 Winthrop and No. 4 Liberty.
 
Saturday against the Bulldogs (6-9, 1-3 Big South) once again saw the Lancers take control in singles play after the underclassman trio of Petralia (No. 5), Bardelloto (No. 4) and Farthing (No. 3) strung together three straight victories to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 Longwood lead. UNC Asheville cut that deficit to 3-2 when ace Henry Patten outlasted Longwood No. 1 Florian Uffer 6-3, 6-3, but Blasco locked up the win with his 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) win over Asheville's Josh Swindler at the No. 2 slot.
 
The win was Longwood's third 4-3 victory in Big South play, two of which have now been secured on match-clinching singles wins by Blasco. The freshman from Valencia, Spain, extended his team-best singles record to 9-1 by edging Josh Swindler 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) at the No. 2 slot to give the Lancers their third Big South win in program history.
 
"We need to get better at capitalizing on the opportunities we have," said Tafelski, who in his second year has Longwood off to its best start of the Division I era. "After losing the doubles point, we started off on the right note to carry on the momentum."
 
UNC Asheville stole the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3, but the freshmen Petralia and Bardelloto swung the momentum in Longwood's favor with straight-set singles wins at Nos. 5 and 4.  The win was the third straight for Petralia, moving him to 5-4 on the season, while Bardelloto continued the torrid pace of his own with his fifth win in his past six outings to improve to 6-2.
 
Sophomore Julian Farthing then came through with a 6-0, 6-3 sweep at No. 3, pushing the lead to 3-1 in favor of Longwood. A product of London, England, Farthing improved his season record to 8-1, doing so with five consecutive wins in the follow-up to his 12-win freshman campaign.
 
Senior captain Florian Uffer dropped a hard-fought match 6-3, 6-3 to the Bulldogs' Henry Patten, who was named the Big South Player of the Week earlier this month. Patten's win at no. 1 brought the match to 3-2, but Blasco responded on behalf of his senior teammate with the match-winner against Swindler.
 
After a week-long layoff due to weather conditions, the Lancers get back to action Sunday, March 19 against Morgan State as part of a men's and women's doubleheader. Match time for the men is set for 11 a.m. at the H-SC Tennis Courts.
 
Longwood 4, Asheville 3
March 18, 2017 at Farmville, Va. (H-SC Tennis Courts)
 
Singles competition
1. PATTEN, Henry (AVL-M) def. UFFER, Florian (LWUM) 6-3, 6-3
2. BLASCO, Amadeo (LWUM) def. SWINDLER, Josh (AVL-M) 6-4, 7-6
3. FARTHING, Julian (LWUM) def. DILLON, Reid (AVL-M) 6-0, 6-3
4. BARDELLOTO, Arthur (LWUM) def. YOUSIF, Majed (AVL-M) 6-4, 6-0
5. PETRALIA, Noah (LWUM) def. CULL, Olly (AVL-M) 6-1, 6-0
6. SINAI, Andrew (AVL-M) def. GOMIS, Jorge (LWUM) 6-4, 2-6, 7-5
 
Doubles competition
1. PATTEN, Henry/SWINDLER, Josh (AVL-M) def. BLASCO, Amadeo/UFFER, Florian (LWUM) 6-1
2. BARDELLOTO, Arthur/FARTHING, Julian (LWUM) def. SINAI, Andrew/COLCLOUGH, Edward (AVL-M) 6-4
3. CULL, Olly/DILLON, Reid (AVL-M) def. GOMIS, Jorge/PETRALIA, Noah (LWUM) 7-5
 
Match Notes
Asheville 6-9
Longwood 8-2
 
Order of Finish
Doubles: 1, 2, 3
Singles: 5, 4, 3, 1, 2, 6
T-3:04
 
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