LYNCHBURG, Va. – Liberty used a singles sweep to shake off Longwood's doubles-point coup and hand the Lancers a 6-1 defeat in their 2020 spring opener Friday afternoon at the Cook Tennis Center.
The No. 2 pick in the Atlantic Sun's preseason poll, Liberty (3-1) erased the momentum Longwood (0-1) generated from a doubles-point victory with a singles sweep at all six positions. The win was the former Big South rival Flames' ninth straight on their home court.
"I'm excited," said Longwood head coach
Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez. "We played against a team that has the infrastructure and everything in place to be a power at this level. My guys went out there after not competing for months, and they took the doubles point. In singles, we just need more matches. But we were strong, we had a great attitude, we fought for every point. We had great chemistry, and I'm excited."
Liberty came into the spring following a second-place finish in last season's Atlantic Sun standings and spearheaded by NIcaise Muamba, the conference's reigning leader in both total singles wins and No. 1 singles victories. Muamba led the charge against Longwood from the top of the lineup, taking down Lancer ace
Amadeo Blasco 6-2, 7-5 to avenge Blasco and doubles partner
Guillermo Cagigas' 6-2 doubles win over Muamba and Ian Sturgill. Sturgill also got his vengeance in singles play, capping the match with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 6 over Lancer junior
Rosen Naydenov.
Muamba's win over Blasco derailed the Longwood senior's bid to tie the program's all-time singles wins record of 88, held by former standout
Nobu Tanaka since 2012. Blasco, who currently sits atop Longwood's career winning percentage record leaderboard, entered the fall just one win shy of matching the record Tanaka set during his standout tenure from 2008-12.
Liberty also got a straight-set win over Longwood No. 2
Guilherme Sergio from Josh Wilson, who opened the singles sweep with a match-tying 6-3, 6-4 win. The defeat put a temporary halt to the strong fall posted by Sergio, who captures a singles flight title at the River City Tennis Open and the doubles crown, alongside Blasco, at Liberty Flames Invitational this past November.
The Flames followed with wins at No. 3 from Chase Burton over
Ignacio Sandoval, Muamba's win over blasco at No. 1, at No. 5 from Rafael Marques Da Silva over
Ernest Rocabert, at No. 4 from Goncalo Ferreira over
Guillermo Cagigas, and finally at No. 6 when Sturgill took down Naydenov.
"Yes we lost, but when you play a team like that the way we did, there are a lot of positives to take away," Medina Alvarez said. "We'll play tomorrow, and I think a month from now the team will be stronger. Even though things didn't go our way, we played and we fought. For that, I'll always be proud as a coach. Tomorrow's another day, and we'll get our men and women out there. We'll continue to play and develop with this positive attitude as we progress toward our conference matches.
The match is the first of two on opening weekend for the Lancer men, who head to the northern region of the Commonwealth to face Division III powerhouse Mary Washington Saturday. The Longwood women will also make the trip and step onto the court for the first time this season against the Eagles.
Liberty 6, Longwood 1
January 31, 2020
Lynchburg, Va. (Cook Tennis Center)
Doubles Results
No. 1:
Amadeo Blasco/
Guillermo Cagigas (LWU) def. Nicaise Muamba/Ian Sturgill (LIB) 6-2
No. 2: Josh Wilson/Goncalo Ferreira (LIB) def.
Guilherme Sergio/
Ernest Rocabert (LWU) 6-2
No. 3:
Rosen Naydenov/
Marc Casasnovas (LWU) def. Chase Burton/Steve Mundt (6-4)
Singles Results
No. 1: Nicaise Muamba (LIB) def.
Amadeo Blasco (LWU) 6-2, 7-5
No. 2: Josh Wilson (LIB) def.
Guilherme Sergio (LWU) 6-3, 6-4
No. 3: Chase Burton (LIB) def.
Ignacio Sandoval (LWU) 6-2, 6-3
No. 4: Goncalo Ferreira (LIB) def.
Guillermo Cagigas (LWU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
No. 5: Rafael Marques Da Silva (LIB) def.
Ernest Rocabert (LWU) 6-4, 6-4
No. 6: Ian Sturgill (LIB) def.
Rosen Naydenov (LWU) 6-2, 6-3
Order of Finish
Doubles: 2, 1, 3
Singles: 2, 3, 1, 5, 4, 6
#GoWood
