ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Longwood men's tennis has a flair for the dramatic these days.

Trailing 1-0 after losing another doubles point on the road and facing a situation where Longwood teams of the past may have folded, four Lancers stepped their game up in singles play to deliver a 4-3 comeback, gut-check victory Saturday morning over UNC Asheville to bounce back after Friday's tough road loss.

"We knew today was a big match since it's the last conference one before the tournament," said first-year head coach Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez. "We played a team that was fresh off a win against Clemson – a really good program [who has the number 47 singles player in the ITA rankings and was ranked as high as 39 in the nation]. We came out, worked hard and we were able to clinch it at 4-1."

"Yesterday was a really tough loss. We lost every doubles match, but then we went up a set on every singles court," Medina Alvarez added. "As I've said all year long, it's the little details that you put into a match. You have to take care of yourself and that will transfer over to your teammates."

All four Lancers – Valentin Popescu, Julian Farthing, Jorge Godoy and Daniel Hernandez – each took their respective matches in straight-sets sending Longwood (10-8, 3-4 Big South) to their 10th win of the 2018 season. Saturday's win made it back-to-back seasons over the 10-win threshold, the first time since the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons.

Leading that singles play charge was freshman lefty Popescu, whose 6-4, 6-3 win over Oli Nolan got the Lancers on the board and provided the much-needed spark.

Just as he done throughout his career, junior Julian Farthing delivered a 7-6, 6-0 two-set victory at court No. 4 for the Lancers' second tally before Godoy and Hernandez put it away. Saturday's win extended Farthing's win streak to a team-best nine while giving him a program-best 6-1 record in Big South play, besting the previous mark of five held by himself, Blasco and former great Dan Elston.

Godoy, who entered Saturday's match with a career-best 15 wins, tallied a huge 6-4, 6-3 straight-set takedown of Finlay McFadyen at court No.5 for the third match point and his third Big South win of the season.

Freshman Hernandez, fresh off his first Big South win as a Lancer, followed that with a match-clinching 6-3, 7-5 straight-set win over counterpart James Massie.

"We ended up losing the final two matches, but I'm super proud of Daniel [Hernandez]. He was able to win both days and clinch the match today," Medina Alvarez said. "He put himself out there. He's been working a lot on his confidence after a short skid earlier this season. I'm extremely proud of him and the team."

The four singles wins were enough to overcome a doubles sweep from the Bulldogs as well as a three-set win from reigning Big South Player of the Year Henry Patten at court No. 1 and a two-set win at court No. 3 by Edward Colclough.

Saturday's win made it back-to-back seasons with a win over the Bulldogs as they have taken down both UNC Asheville and Radford in two-straight campaigns since joining the Big South.

Longwood returns home for a three-game homestand as they host N.C. Central, former CVAC rival Belmont Abbey and Norfolk State to close the regular season. Match time Friday is set for 2 p.m. from Lancer Courts.

"The team was able to come out as a visitor and take the win over as team as good as UNC Asheville," Medina Alvarez said. "The fact that we ended up having double-digit wins for the second consecutive year is good for the program and we'll keep working hard. I'm looking forward to what we're going to bring to the table at the conference tournament."

Longwood 4, UNC Asheville 3
March 31, 2018

Singles:
1. Patten (UNCA) def. Blasco (LWU) 6-0, 4-6, 6-4
2. Popescu (LWU) def. Nolan (UNCA) 6-4, 6-3
3. Colclough (UNCA) def. Sakai (LWU) 6-4, 7-6
4. Farthing (LWU) def. Cull (UNCA) 7-6, 6-0
5. Godoy (LWU) def. McFadyen (UNCA) 6-4, 6-3
6. Hernandez (LWU) def. Massie (UNCA) 6-3, 7-5

Doubles:
1. Patten/Cull (UNCA) def. Godoy/Popescu (LWU) 6-3
2. Colclough/Nolan (UNCA) def. Blasco/Sakai (LWU) 7-5
3. Massie/McFadyen (UNCA) def. Farthing/Lachlan Manser (LWU) 6-1

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