BUENA VISTA, Va. – After watching three straight matches get washed away by a deluge of wet weather in the region, Longwood women's tennis showed no signs of rust.
 
Playing their first match since Feb. 17, the Lancers (5-1) extended the program's winningest start of the Division I era with a 7-0 road sweep at Southern Virginia Wednesday afternoon at the SVU Tennis Courts.
 
Longwood dominated up and down the lineup, winning all six singles bouts in straight sets and dropping just four doubles games on the day. The veteran duo of Yulia Almiron and Jamie Breunig led that charge from the top of the lineup, with Almiron winning 6-2, 6-2 at No. 1 singles and Breunig 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2, and the pair teaming up for an 8-2 doubles win at No. 1.
 
"The goal for this team is to continue to learn how adaption at different levels will help them minimize emotions when they play," said head coach and director of tennis Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez, who has the Longwood men's and women's teams off to a combined 10-4 start this spring.
 
"I have no doubt our women's team has a lot of great qualities. They've been working really hard in the gym, and they're the type of players who put the time in. They don't have a problem with working. The biggest thing is how do we understand the emotional component of tennis as we play at different levels. That's the reason for scheduling like we did this year: So they could feel what it's like to beat teams they should, and also what happens when they play against a team that's better than them, and finding that they still have the opportunities to make changes and overcome perceived barriers when they feel outmatched."
 
Following Almiron and Breunig was their fellow upperclassman Marija Venta, who was nearly perfect in her 6-0, 6-1 singles win at No. 3. That win was the second straight for the junior, who improved to 4-0 when playing as Longwood's No. 3 this spring.
 
Lancer freshmen Anika Tylek and Emma Nurgazieva matched Venta's dominance at the Nos. 4 and 5 spots, with Tylek winning 6-0, 6-1 and Nurgazieva staying unbeaten with a flawless 6-0, 6-0 victory. Nurgazieva's victory extended her spring record to 6-0, surpassing the best start by a Longwood freshman in nearly a decade by moving past Nicole Parker's 5-0 run in 2010-11.
 
Longwood sophomore Crystal Nzewi also picked up her first career singles victory, 6-4, 6-0, as the Lancer No. 6.
 
"It's been a good week, and we've put a lot of emphasis on fitness these past few days," Medina Alvarez said. "I'm happy with how they handled the pressure today. I'll be happier when they're able to play with the mentality of owning the match, playing to win. That's something we're consciously working on.
 
"For example, if they're up 3-0 or winning easy, I make them serve and volley. It doesn't hurt us, but it puts them in a situation where they may feel uncomfortable in the middle of a match. That discomfort is going to happen eventually, especially when we get into conference play, but they need to have experienced it before so that when it does happen, it's not a shock. They need to know what to do in those situations where everything isn't going as planned. They need to be comfortable with discomfort."
 
Now off to the first 5-1 start since the Lancers made the jump to the Division I level in 2004-05, Longwood will take on Washington & Lee on Sunday, March 10 in Lexington, Va.
 
Longwood 7, Southern Virginia 0
Feb. 27, 2019
Buena Vista, Va. (SVU Tennis Courts)
 
Singles competition
1. ALMIRON, Yulia (LWU) def. MORRISON, Lauren (SVU) 6-2, 6-2
2. BREUNIG, Jamie (LWU) def. McBRIDE, Audrey (SVU) 6-1, 6-1
3. VENTA, Marija (LWU) def. SEWELL, Alyssa (SVU) 6-0, 6-1
4. TYLEK, Anika (LWU) def. ALDRICH, Leeanne (SVU) 6-0, 6-1
5. NURGAZIEVA, Emma (LWU) def. BLOUNT, Morgan (SVU) 6-0, 6-0
6. NZEWI, Crystal (LWU) def. TETTERTON, Natalie (SVU) 6-4, 6-0
 
Doubles competition
1. ALMIRON, Yulia/BREUNIG, Jamie (LWU) def. MORRISON, Lauren/NEELEMAN, Rachel (SVU) 8-2
2. TYLEK, Anika/NURGAZIEVA, Emma (LWU) def. CHRISTENSEN, Rachel/McBRIDE, Audrey (SVU) 8-0
3. NZEWI, Crystal/VENTA, Marija (LWU) def. SEWELL, Alyssa/BLOUNT, Morgan (SVU) 8-2
 
Match Notes
Longwood 5-1
Southern Virginia 2-1
 
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