GREENVILLE, N.C. – Using a 2-1 advantage in doubles play for a 1-0 lead, Longwood men's tennis battled through six singles matches to extend their win streak to three-straight with Saturday's 7-0 blanking of Hampton in a neutral site match.

Thanks to wins on courts two and three by the tandems of Amadeo Blasco/Julian Farthing and Jorge Godoy/Valentin Popescu, the Lancers showed their resilience to take the ever-so important doubles tally and 1-0 lead.

Longwood's (3-1) singles play put the match on ice.

Backed by sweeps from Popescu, Raisei Sakai and Farthing at courts two, three and four, Longwood clinched the match at 4-0 before Blasco, Godoy and Daniel Hernandez battled through full-set tilts for the 7-0 outcome.

"This is the second time we've been able to obtain a point in doubles. I think the guys' hard work this week with training and adapting to the vision that I see for the doubles strategy and placement paid off," said first-year head coach Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez.

"I'm happy to say that we did really well today. Even though we lost one of the matches in doubles, the line and the way that I want things to be done is still there. That, for me, is a great improvement."

Farthing, who already sits among the top-10 in all-time wins, now carries a seven-match win streak after his 6-3, 6-1 sweep over Fernando Fernandes. The victory at court No.4 also clinched Farthing's third 10-win season as a Lancer after 19 wins as a freshman and 16 last season.

Freshmen Popescu and Sakai followed suit with two-set victories at the second and third lines for their third singles victories of the spring.

A native of Bucharest, Romania, Popescu downed his Hampton counterpart 6-3, 6-2 while Sakai battled through a 7-5 first set before putting away Peter Odegbomi 6-1, effectively sealing the Lancers' victory.

"When it comes to our singles, our No. 1 to No. 6 all fought extremely hard playing against a really good team. The change of pace and adaptation was key for us," Medina Alvarez said. "The attitude is 100-percent better. If they're behind a few points or there is a bad call, they're still able to handle it well. For me, it sets the tone of our culture and what Longwood's all about. I'm extremely proud of these guys."

Saturday's victory was the Lancers' sixth consecutive over the Pirates as Longwood leads the all-time series 6-3. The win was also the last time the Lancers and Pirates face-off as nonconference foes as Hampton is set to join the Big South as a full-time member effective July 1, 2018.

"The team really handled the match well after three long hours of driving on a really rainy day by coming out and putting in 100-percent. That's all I can ask for. Our guys are showing improvement, showing it through their hard work during the week on and off the tennis court," Medina Alvarez said.

"Tomorrow, we play another tough team. We're still getting to that peak I'm looking for when we play our first conference match. I'm asking them to get out of their comfort zone sometimes and do things that might be something they haven't done before in the past, but we're training. We're getting better, we're learning. I couldn't be any more proud of these guys." 

With back-to-back 7-0 wins, the Lancers enter Sunday's matchup with host East Carolina riding a three-match win streak. Doubles play begins at 11:30 a.m. with singles play to follow.

Longwood 7, Hampton 0
Feb. 10, 2018
Greenville, N.C.

Singles:
1. Amadeo Blasco (LWU) def. Matthew Foster-Estwin (HU) 7-5, 2-6, 6-4
2. Valentin Popescu (LWU) def. Luke Thompson (HU) 6-3, 6-2
3. Raisei Sakai (LWU) def. Peter Odegbomi (HU) 7-5, 6-1
4. Julian Farthing (LWU) def. Fernando Fernandes (HU) 6-3, 6-1
5. Jorge Godoy (LWU) def. Charles Hudson (HU) 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-6)
6. Daniel Hernandez (LWU) def. Fedor Shirim (HU) 7-5, 5-7 1-0 (10-8)

Doubles:
1. Peter Odegbomi/Fedor Shirim (HU) def. Hernandez/Sakai (LWU) 6-2
2. Blasco/Farthing (LWU) def. Matthew Foster-Estwin/Fernando Fernandes (HU) 6-4
3. Godoy/Popescu (LWU) def. Luke Thompson/Charles Hudson (HU) 6-1

#GoWood