FARMVILLE, Va. – Sparked by singles wins at the first four courts and doubles wins at the top two slots, Longwood men's tennis snapped their skid with a 5-2 dominant showing Sunday versus George Mason, kicking off an eight-match homestand.

Junior and London, England native Julian Farthing pushed the Lancer lead to 2-0 behind a 6-2, 6-1 thrashing of his George Mason counterpart on court No. 4 before sophomore ace Amadeo Blasco's win made it 3-0 and comeback bids from Raisei Sakai and Valentin Popescu clinched the match at 5-0.

Farthing collected his 13^th singles victory this season as he now sits T-4th on the Longwood all-time wins list with 48 career victories under his belt. His straight-set win capped a 2-1 week as he also collected a win over his counterpart from Liberty in straight-set fashion.

"It feels great to win again," said Farthing, who keeps inching closer his way up the all-time wins list. "We're all starting to realize how to play and how to do things correctly in order to win again. I think this is the start of a good streak. Hopefully we can keep it up, get the momentum going and keep it rolling during conference matches."

Once Farthing extended Longwood's lead, Blasco took care of business while freshmen Sakai and Popescu battled back for come-from-behind three-set wins on courts two and three – clinching the match at 5-0 before the Patriots got on the board at courts five and six.

"I think it makes all the difference in the world when you have that passion to go out and play. The team proved that today," said first-year head coach Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez, who collected his first home win Sunday. "I thought the doubles wins were key for us to go into singles with a great attitude. Things were going our way. I thought all the matches were well-played. The right attitude was there. If we continue this path of learning and evolving emotionally and handle the pressure that comes with it, our results are going to change dramatically."

Sophomore sensation and rotation ace Blasco extended his win streak to three behind a pair of 6-3 sets. The straight-set victory Sunday gave Blasco his 20th victory of the season, matching the program's freshman record he set last season.

"It feels good to get the win after yesterday's result," Blasco said. "We finally got everyone on board and all the work we've put in is finally paying off. Now we just have to keep it up."

The win also pushed Blasco closer to the program's all-time single season wins record as he sits just three from tying and four from breaking it. A native of Valencia, Spain, Blasco also sits just seven decisions away from playing in the most matches in a single season in program history.

Both Blasco and Farthing have 7-3 records this spring after Sunday's wins, tied for the best records on the squad.

After dropping the first set on court 2 by a 6-4 score, Sakai surged back with two dominant 6-2 wins in his second and third sets to clinch the Longwood victory before classmate Popescu overcame a 7-6 first-set loss with a pair of his own 6-2 victories in the final two sets.

The comeback win pushed Sakai across the double-digit mark, making him the fifth Lancer to reach that feat this season joining Blasco, Farthing, Jorge Godoy and Popescu.

Meanwhile, Popescu overcame early adversity on court three before taking over and finishing off Pally Ray and making it a 5-0 match, securing the Lancers' final tally of the day.

"The fact that [Raisei] Sakai and Valentin [Popescu] were down one set and were able to come back and win the match makes me extremely proud – as well as Amadeo wining the last three and Julian winning today," Medina Alvarez said. "Even though Jorge and Daniel couldn't pull it off – the fact that they're still competing, that's what matters to me."

In doubles play, the duo of Blasco and Sakai collected their 11th victory and fifth of the spring at court two while Godoy and Popescu paired up with a 6-4 win to springboard the Lancers to an early 1-0 lead.

George Mason finally got on the board thanks to Carter Bradford's three-set victory over Daniel Hernandez 4-6, 7-6, 6-3. Hernandez was able to jump to the early lead and came moments from clinching the match for the Lancers, but couldn't quite stave off the comeback effort from Bradford.

On court No. 6, Godoy battled back-and-forth with the Patriots' Giuliano Buzoianu as the pair traded blows in the first two sets 6-4 in favor of Buzoianu followed by a 6-3 decision in favor of Godoy. The match came down to the wire as Buzoianu was able to overcome an early deficit in the tiebreak before slipping past Godoy 1-0 (10-8) for George Mason's second and final point.

Longwood stays at home for most of March as they welcome in Division II power West Virginia Wesleyan before another conference clash with Gardner-Webb in the next week.

"I'm proud of them. We're going to get back to work tomorrow morning and get ready for next week," Medina Alvarez said. "I appreciate all those who came out and supported us. I'm hoping that we're still learning about the foundation we're trying to build and accomplish together as a team. We'll never give up and we'll never surrender."

First serve between the Lancers and Bobcats is set for 11:30 a.m. from Lancer Courts Friday morning.

Longwood 5, George Mason 2
March 4, 2018 | Farmville, Va. (Lancer Courts)

Singles:
1. Amadeo Blasco (LWU) def. Edward Ayers (Mason) 6-3, 6-3
2. Raisei Sakai (LWU) def. Jakob Nielsen (Mason) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
3. Valentin Popescu (LWU) def. Pally Ray (Mason) 6-7, 6-2, 6-2
4. Julian Farthing (LWU) def. Daniel Gutierrez (Mason) 6-2, 6-1
5. Carter Bradford (Mason) def. Daniel Hernandez (LWU) 4-6, 7-6, 6-3
6. Giuliano Buzoianu (Mason) def. Jorge Godoy (LWU) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8)

Doubles:
1. Godoy/Popescu (LWU) def. Nielsen/Ray (Mason) 6-4
2. Blasco/Sakai (LWU) def. Gutierrez/Ryan Charles (Mason) 6-2
3. Bradford/Buzoianu (Mason) def. Lachlan Manser/Rosen Naydenov (LWU) 6-0

Order of Finish:
Doubles – 3, 2, 1
Singles – 4, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6

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