FARMVILLE, Va. – In the latest installment of the Route 460 Rivalry, it was the visiting Liberty Flames who avenged last season's result with a 5-2 victory over the Longwood men's tennis team Wednesday in the Lancers' home debut, despite two more wins from the dynamic duo of Amadeo Blasco and Julian Farthing.

Farthing's win at court No. 4 was the 12th of the season and sixth this spring while Blasco's three-set victory was his 18th overall and fifth since the beginning of the New Year. Blasco sits just two victories shy of tying last season's 20-win freshman debut and six victories shy of breaking the program's all-time single-season wins record of 23 held by Nobu Tanaka and Farthing is just five victories from surpassing last season's 16-win campaign.

Both Blasco and Farthing keep climbing the all-time wins list as the two have combined for five double-digit win seasons. Farthing sits T-6th with 47 singles victories while Blasco is 11th with 38, just one shy of moving into a tie for 10th-place.

"I'm extremely happy and proud of Amadeo [Blasco]. He keeps improving his game over these past few months," said first-year head coach Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez.

However, it was the Flames who came out on top behind the early doubles point and singles victories on courts two, three, five and six.

"It was a tough loss today," Alvarez said. "I thought the doubles matches were really tight and we let them slip away with silly mistakes. The guys need to understand that when you're playing doubles it's a faster pace and all about being positive and making really good choices."

Led by Eddie Gutierres's 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 full-set takedown of Valentin Popescu at the second spot, Liberty clinched the match at 4-2 with two-set victories by Chase Burton (6-4, 6-4 over Raisei Sakai at court No. 3) and Alex Poynter (6-1, 7-6 over Daniel Hernandez at the fifth slot) before Diego Castano closed the match with a 7-6, 6-3 decision over Longwood senior Jorge Godoy.

Longwood's lone doubles victory came at court No. 2 as the tandem of Blasco/Farthing took down their Liberty counterparts 6-4 as Castano/Poynter and Burton/Matheson took 6-4 decisions at lines one and three for the 1-0 lead. Wednesday's doubles victory pushed Blasco and Farthing's record to a perfect 3-0 with two of their wins coming at the second doubles court.

Wednesday also marked the home debut of coach Medina Alvarez after he took the reins in December, as well as the program's first match on the newly renovated Lancer Courts.

"We were winning most of the singles matches at one point. It got a little out of reach towards the end, but it still comes down to the attitude and emotions of handling the pressure," Medina Alvarez said. "Losing your first conference match is tough. I thought there was some improvements emotionally, but it's about the guys deciding how badly they want to win."

Blasco, Farthing and the Lancers look to collect their first Big South win of the season as they head to Campbell Saturday morning as part of a men's and women's doubleheader. After Saturday, the teams head their separate ways as the men return home for the rest of March with bouts against George Mason, West Virginia Wesleyan and Gardner-Webb next week.

First serve between the Lancers and Camels is set for 11 a.m. from Buies Creek, N.C.

Liberty 5, Longwood 2
Feb 28, 2018 at Farmville, Va. (Lancer Courts)
 

Singles competition
1. BLASCO, Amadeo (LWUM) def. MATHESON, Sam (LIBERTYM) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
2. GUTIERREZ, Eddie (LIBERTYM) def. POPESCU, Valentin (LWUM) 6-2, 1-6, 6-4
3. BURTON, Chase (LIBERTYM) def. SAKAI, Raisei (LWUM) 6-4, 6-4
4. FARTHING, Julian (LWUM) def. SALAS, Vince (LIBERTYM) 6-4, 6-0
5. POYNTER, Alex (LIBERTYM) def. HERNANDEZ, Daniel (LWUM) 6-1, 7-6
6. CASTANO, Diego (LIBERTYM) def. GODOY, Jorge (LWUM) 7-6, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. POYNTER, Alex/CASTANO, Diego (LIBERTYM) def. GODOY, Jorge/POPESCU, Valentin (LWUM) 6-4
2. BLASCO, Amadeo/FARTHING, Julian (LWUM) def. GUTIERREZ, Eddie/SALAS, Vince (LIBERTYM) 6-4
3. BURTON, Chase/MATHESON, Sam (LIBERTYM) def. SAKAI, Raisei/HERNANDEZ, Daniel (LWUM) 6-4
Match Notes
Liberty 6-6, 1-0 Big South
Longwood 3-5, 0-1 Big South

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