LYNCHBURG, Va. – After a strong outing in the UNCW Invitational two weeks ago, sophomore ace Amadeo Blasco and the Longwood men's tennis team one-upped that against Big South, Conference-USA and Atlantic-10 foes in the Liberty Inviational.

On the heels of a 2-1 outing in the Tar Heel State, Blasco swept through a stiff Flight A singles bracket to take the championship match Sunday from VCU's Ignacio Rivero Crespo 6-2, 7-6(1) and complete the perfect weekend.

"Overall it was a great tournament as we tested ourselves against Big South reigning champs and runner-ups, plus some other very strong programs," said third-year head coach and reigning Big South Coach of the Year Pierre Tafelski. "The guys' work ethic has been impeccable since day one, which shows early in the year what we are capable of. Amadeo improved on a lot of different levels and he deserved winning his draw and runner-up in doubles."

Not only was Blasco in a position to take home the singles title, he and partner Raisei Sakai entered Sunday just one win shy of giving Longwood their second doubles championship in as many tournaments. The duo fell to Big South runner-up Campbell's tandem of Dustin Werner/Lukas Schaefer by a 6-4 margin.

Blasco was joined by three teammates in the singles win column as senior Lachlan Manser and freshmen Daniel Hernandez and Valentin Popescu collected consolation bracket victories, all against Big South counterparts.

Manser took down Presbyterian's Will Baird in a 6-4, 6-2 straight-set while Hernandez followed suit with a win over the Blue Hose's Britton Bellamy in a 6-3, 6-3 margin. Popescu, who joined the Lancers recently after their first fall tournament, outlasted Campbell's Lorenz Schwab 7-6(4), 6-3 for the fourth Longwood singles win.

"What is encouraging is that we are only four weeks in and we have a lot of work ahead of us to get stronger, more experience and overall more competitive," Tafelski said. "This team has embraced the journey and will be back on the tennis court motivated to keep getting better and stronger."

Blasco, Tafelski and the Lancers will have three weeks to work before their next tournament appearance of their four scheduled fall invitationals. The ITA Atlantic Regionals begin Oct. 19 on the campus of Liberty on the same courts they clinched their first Big South win back in March.

Flight A Singles:
Blasco (LWU) def. Crespo (VCU) 6-2, 7-6(1)

Flight B Singles:
Labik (CU) def. Farthing (LWU) 6-0, 1-6, 6-2
Popescu (LWU) def. Schwag (CU) 7-6(4), 6-3
Conde (PC) def. Sakai (LWU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
Castano (LIB) def. Godoy (LWU) 6-4, 6-2

Flight C Singles:
Manser (LWU) def. Baird (PC) 6-4, 6-2
Borcuti (LIB) def. Manser (LWU) 6-2, 6-1
Monterosso (CU) def. Naydenov (LWU) 6-4, 6-3
Hernandez (LWU) def. Bellamy (PC) 6-3, 6-3

Flight A Doubles:
Werner/Schaefer (CU) def. Blasco/Sakai (LWU) 6-4

Flight C Doubles: 
Nardini/Polander (UR) def. Popescu/Farthing (LWU) 6-4
Clemente/Monterosso (CU) def. Hernandez/Godoy (LWU) 7-6(3)
Manser/Naydenov (LWU) def. Conde/Baird (PC) 6-2

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