February 10, 2019
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Just 48 hours removed from their second win of the season, Longwood men's tennis came within one point of stunning Atlantic 10 powerhouse George Washington on the road.
However, that match-clinching point slipped away twice, as the Colonials (2-1) won back-to-back singles bouts to dash Longwood's upset bid in a 4-3 comeback that handed the Lancers (2-1) their first loss of the season.
Winners of five A-10 championships in the past eight years, George Washington rallied on the strength of consecutive singles victories by Dennis Afanasev, who tied the match 3-3 after defeating Raisei Sakai 6-4, 6-4 at No. 5, and Ben Barnett, who clinched it with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 victory over Longwood senior Julian Farthing at No. 3.
Barnett's win over Farthing came against the lone senior on Longwood's squad and a player who twice clinched momentous Big South victories last spring during the Lancers' end-of-season surge to the Big South semifinals. That defeat was the first of the spring for Farthing and only his second loss since the start of the fall.
"We had chances our today," second-year Longwood head coach Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez said. "We were winning all doubles matches in the beginning, and then there was some relaxation, and we ended up losing the point. In singles we went up 3-1, but we had some players who weren't committed to what we teach when they started struggling. We have to stay with rallies and stay positive."
The loss comes in Longwood's first matchup against a Division I opponent after the Lancers' opened the year with a 7-2 takedown of Division III powerhouse Mary Washington and a 7-0 shutout of Chowan.
"Today's match was different from the ones we played before because the level of the players was higher, and there was no space for mistakes," said sophomore Guilherme Sergio.
Longwood found that early when the Colonials opened the match by taking the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3. However, Longwood's No. 1 duo of Amadeo Blasco and Guilherme Sergio salvaged a 7-5 win over Barnett and Zicheng Zeng at the top spot, which sparked a burst of momentum that carried with Longwood into singles play.
Blasco, securing his 59th career win, carried that charge himself by making quick work of his No. 1 counterpart Zeng 6-1, 6-3 to tie the score at 1-1. Sophomore Rosen Naydenov, in his first action of the spring, then defeated Hanyu Liu 6-2, 6-2 at No. 6 for the go-ahead point and a 2-1 lead.
George Washington evened the score behind Ryan Navarro's 6-4, 6-3 win over Guilherme Sergio, but Longwood freshman Guillermo Cagigas came through in the clutch with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Lawrence Scigliano at No. 4 to keep his spring-season unbeaten streak alive at 3-0.
However, Cagigas' win would be Longwood's last. Down to their final two bouts, the Colonials needed back-to-back wins to spoil Longwood's upset, and the Colonials did just that. Afanasev tied it again with his 6-4, 6-1 win over Sakai, and Barnett followed with his three-set marathon defeat of Farthing to clinch the win.
"Division I players are going to be like that," Medina Alvarez said. "They're always going to push. If you can't match that, you're going to end up losing. Hopefully we learn from this and we start developing that fight going forward."
The Lancers head back to the nation's capital on Thursday, to play Georgetown at 3 p.m.
George Washington 4, Longwood 3
February 10, 2019
Washington, D.C. (George Washington Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. BLASCO, Amadeo (LWU) def. ZENG, Zicheng (GWU) 6-1, 6-3
2. NAVARRO, Ryan (GWU) def. SERGIO, Guilherme (LWU) 6-4, 6-3
3. BARNETT, Ben (GWU) def. FARTHING, Julian (LWU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-2
4. CAGIGAS, Guillermo (LWU) def. SCIGLITANO, Lawrence (GWU) 6-4, 6-4
5. AFANASEV, Dennis (GWU) def. SAKAI, Raisei (LWU) 6-4, 6-1
6. NAYDENOV, Rosen (LWU) def. LIU, Hanyu (GWU) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. BLASCO, Amadeo/SERGIO, Guilherme (LWU) def. ZENG, Zicheng/BARNETT, Ben (GWU) 7-5
2. LIU, Hanyu/SCIGLITANO, Lawrence (GWU) def. FARTHING, Julian/SAKAI, Raisei (LWU) 6-2
3. NAVARRO, Ryan/AFANASEV, Dennis (GWU) def. CAGIGAS, Guillermo/CASASNOVAS, Marc (LWU) 6-3
Match Notes
Longwood 2-1
George Washington 2-1
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (1,6,2,4,5,3)
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