Longwood University Athletics

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Reigning Big South runner-up Charleston Southern showcased its league-leading pedigree in the conference opener by turning away Longwood 6-1 Friday afternoon at the Buccaneer Tennis Center.
 
The league's preseason No.3 in the Big South Coaches Poll, Charleston Southern (3-3, 1-0 Big South) edged out Longwood in two of three doubles sets and then rolled to five straight singles wins before Lancer freshman Tanja Skalda blocked the sweep with a gutty 7-6, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6) win at the No. 6 slot.
 
The loss was the first of the season for the Lancers (2-1, 0-1 Big South), who entered the match following wins of 6-0 over Bluefield State and 6-1 over N.C. Central. However, the Bucs, who have reached four of the past five Big South Championship matches, became the first team to defeat the Lancers in 2018 on the strength of five straight-sets singles wins.
 
Along with Skalda's singles win, Longwood's No. 2 doubles pairing of Yulia Almiron and Kaori Terunuma came out on top in doubles play, 6-4 over Charleston Southern's Filippa Ericson and Valeria Koussenkova. That win was the third of the season for Longwood's freshman duo, who improved to 2-1 since pairing up this spring.
 
Charleston Southern ace Sophie Cloessner almost single-handedly negated those Longwood wins, picking up a 6-4 doubles win with teammate Madalina Man over Longwood's top pairing of Jamie Breunig and Marija Venta before taking down Venta 6-1, 6-3 in singles play.
 
Cloessner's win over Venta was one of three in the top half of the singles lineup for Charleston Southern. Valeria Koussenkova topped Almiron at No. 2, and Filippa Ericson toppled Jamie Breunig 7-6, 6-3 at No. 3.
 
The Lancers will continue their spring break gauntlet Saturday when they face Big South foe Campbell at 2:30 in Buies Creek, N.C. That will be the third of six matches in a 10-day span, which concludes with Longwood playing at Savannah State, Bethune-Cookman and at No. 19 Miami.
 
Charleston Southern 6, Longwood 1
Mar 02, 2018 at Charleston, S.C. (Buccaneer Tennis Center)

Singles competition

1. CLOESSNER, Sophie (CSU-W) def. VENTA, Marija (LWUW) 6-1, 6-3

2. KOUSSENKOVA, Valeria (CSU-W) def. ALMIRON, Yulia (LWUW) 6-1, 6-2

3. ERICSON, Filippa (CSU-W) def. BREUNIG, Jamie (LWUW) 7-6, 6-3

4. MAN, Madalina (CSU-W) def. TERUNUMA, Kaori (LWUW) 6-3, 6-1

5. KOERNER, Kimberley (CSU-W) def. CANDIOTTO, Julia (LWUW) 6-0, 6-0

6. SKALDA, Tanja (LWUW) def. MORAR, Yana (CSU-W) 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6)

Doubles competition

1. CLOESSNER, Sophie/MAN, Madalina (CSU-W) def. BREUNIG, Jamie/VENTA, Marija (LWUW) 6-4

2. ALMIRON, Yulia/TERUNUMA, Kaori (LWUW) def. KOUSSENKOVA, Valeria/ERICSON, Filippa (CSU-W) 6-4

3. MORAR, Yana/KOERNER, Kimberley (CSU-W) def. SKALDA, Tanja/CANDIOTTO, Julia (LWUW) 6-2

Match Notes

Longwood 2-1, 0-1

Charleston Southern 3-3, 1-0

Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (5,2,4,1,3,6)

T-3:01 A-43

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