RADFORD, VA—The Longwood men's tennis team saw its four-match winning streak come to an end by Big South foe Radford 4-3 Wednesday at the Radford University Tennis Complex.
After coming off of a huge team win against Winthrop, the Lancers (7-4, 1-1 Big South) fought hard, but ultimately fell to the Highlanders (10-2, 2-0 Big South) 4-3 after the home team denied Longwood its first 2-0 start since joining the Big South.
"Their comes a time when we need to understand that our choices will decide the outcome of our results and today the team, even though they played well in singles, some of the players did not respect the moment in this match to draw us a step closer to our goal." Said Coach
Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez, "Nevertheless I hope this match can be a learning experience for our guys to be more mindful about what we require when we play, which is simple more heart."
Radford's Alexandros Caldwell and Michiel Meekers got the Highlanders off to a hot start after handing
Julian Farthing and
Raisei Sakai a 6-0 loss. Hoping to bounce back for the Lancers was
Guillermo Cagigas and Marc Casanovas, who hung tough but dropped their match to Andres Silva and Matko Varga, 6-3.
Heading into the final doubles match,
Amadeo Blasco and
Guilherme Sergio battled Yevhen Sirous and Rodrigo Magalhaes, who clinched the doubles sweep for the Highlanders with a 7-6 win. Longwood fought back in singles despite the 1-0 score. At the No.4 position, Farthing dropped his match to Meekers 2-6, 4-6.
Meanwhile, Cagigas, Big South freshman of the week for the third time this season, collected the Longwood's first win of the day, 6-1, 6-3 on court three, before Sergio picked up a win in
defeating Magalhaes at the No. 2 position in a three set match 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. The win for Sergio is his 11th of the dual season and is his second straight.
After Sergio's three-set thriller, the match was tied 2-2 when Radford's Silva came back for the Highlander's and defeated Sakai in a battle of three 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 before Casanova on court six lost in a three set match as well to Varga, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, to seal the win for the Highlanders.
Closing out play for the day, was Blasco on the top court showdown as he picked up his 11th win of the season over Sirous 7-6, 6-7, 6-3.
"This is a tough week, on Friday we play a huge match at Longwood and the doubles point is going to be key to succeed." Cagigas said, "Today's plan was to keep the same attitude that we had against Winthrop for doubles and stick to the strategy for our singles matches."
The Lancers will open Lancer Courts Friday, March 22 with their first home match set for 11 a.m. against Big South rival, Campbell.
#GoWood
Radford 4, Longwood 3
Mar 20, 2019 at Radford, Va. (Radford Tennis Complex)
Singles Results
1. BLASCO, Amadeo (LWU) def. Yevhen Sirous (RADM) 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (5-7), 6-3
2. SERGIO, Guilherme (LWU) def. Rodrigo Magalhaes (RADM) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
3. CAGIGAS, Guillermo (LWU) def. Alexandros Caldwell (RADM) 6-1, 6-3
4. Michiel Meekers (RADM) def. FARTHING, Julian (LWU) 6-2, 6-4
5. Andres Silva (RADM) def. SAKAI, Raisei (LWU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
6. Matko Varga (RADM) def. CASASNOVAS, Marc (LWU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
Doubles Results
1. Sirous/Magalhaes (RADM) def. BLASCO/SERGIO (LWU) 7-6 (7-3)
2. Caldwell/Meekers (RADM) def. FARTHING/SAKAI (LWU) 6-0
3. Varga/Silva (RADM) def. CASASNOVAS/CAGIGAS (LWU) 6-3
Match Notes
Longwood 8-4, 1-0 Big South
Radford 10-2, 2-0 Big South
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (4,3,2,5,6,1)
A-54
