WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Longwood men's tennis team was back in action in the nation's capital Thursday against Big East competitor Georgetown.
After opening with a doubles point win, the Lancers (2-2) extended that match lead to 3-0 following singles wins by
Amadeo Blasco and
Guilherme Sergio. However, the Lancers struggled to secure that final point, giving way to a Hoya team that won four straight singles bouts to pull out a 4-3 win.
"We played hard, but we still get too emotional over things that we cannot control," said Longwood director of tennis
Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez. "The outcome of any match is the result of the strategy we play and our own personal belief in what we can do. We are at a point now where people respect our program, but we need to respect ourselves enough to play with vision and not wait for our opponents to miss."
Georgetown's Carlos Grande secured the win for the Hoyas, outlasting Lancer sophomore
Rosen Naydenov 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 in a three-set marathon to secure the match-clinching point.
"We need to stop playing not to lose instead of playing to win when we get opportunities like today," Blasco said. "It is very sad; we should be able to pull it off and finish what we started."
The Lancers opened the match with a 1-0 lead behind doubles wins from the No. 1 pairing of Blasco and
Guilherme Sergio and No. 3
Julian Farthing and
Raisei Sakai.
In singles, Sergio conquered his No.2 spot counterpart Lee 6-4, 6-3. Following Sergio, Blasco earned his 60th career win, taking down Georgetown No. 1 foe Kamdar 6-4, 6-3. Unfortunately for the Lancers, that would be their last win of the day.
A Big East semifinalist last season, Georgetown began the turnaround at No.4 where Rozanov defeated Farthing 6-2, 6-2. Chen followed by knocking off Longwood's reigning Big South Freshman of the Week Cagigas, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, and No.5 Sharton defeated Casasnovas 6-4, 6-2.
Closing out singles play for the day was from sophomore
Rosen Naydenov at No. 6 who beat Carlos Grande in a three set match, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4.
The Lancers will look to bounce back this Saturday, Feb. 16, when they travel to Newport News for a 5 p.m. matchup against Christopher Newport.
Georgetown 4, Longwood 3
Feb. 14 2019
Washington, D.C. (East Campus Tennis Courts)
Singles competition
1. BLASCO, Amadeo (LWU) def. KAMDAR, Rohan (GU) 6-4, 6-3
2. SERGIO, Guilherme (LWU) def. LEE, Connor (GU) 6-4, 6-3
3. CHEN, Michael (GU) def. CAGIGAS, Guillermo (LWU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
4. ROZANOV, Andrew (GU) def. FARTHING, Julian (LWU) 6-2, 6-2
5. SHARTON, Charlie (GU) def. CASASNOVAS, Marc (LWU) 6-4, 6-2
6. GRANDE, Carlos (GU) def. NAYDENOV, Rosen (LWU) 7-6, 6-7, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. SERGIO, Guilherme/BLASCO, Amadeo (LWU) def. LEE, Connor/KAMDAR, Rohan (GU) 7-6
2. CHEN, Michael/SHARTON, Charlie (GU) def. CAGIGAS, Guillermo/CASASNOVAS, Marc (LWU) 6-4
3. FARTHING, Julian/SAKAI, Raisei (LWU) def. ROZANOV, Andrew/ROSS, Luke (GU) 7-6
Match Notes
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,1,4,3,5,6)
