FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – Just two days into the spring season, Amadeo Blasco tied Longwood's all-time singles wins record. With three months left on the schedule, the All-Big South senior is just getting started.
 
Backed by Blasco's milestone 88th career singles victory, the Lancers (1-1) cruised past Mary Washington 5-2 on a historic Saturday afternoon at the University Tennis Center to earn their first win of the season.
 
Longwood's long-time ace once again spearheaded the effort in singles play and made history in the process, outlasting the Eagles' No. 1 Moses Hutchison 6-7, 7-5, 4-2 (retired) to match former Lancer great Nobu Tanaka on the top spot on the program's all-time leaderboard. Also atop Longwood's all-time singles winning percentage list with an 88-22 record in his four seasons, Blasco will get his first opportunity at becoming Longwood's all-time leader next Saturday, Feb. 8, at Christopher Newport.
 
"The courts here are pretty fast, and this is a Division III team that plays at nationals every year," said Longwood head coach Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez. "These guys are highly motivated, and they have the level to play everywhere, so it was a challenging match.
 
"In doubles, I felt like we needed to be more active and start from the beginning right away. In singles, the guys played well, especially Guillermo and Nacho. For Ama[deo], it was a tough match. [Hutchison] was 6-3 and serving aces left and right and maybe caught him by surprise, but I was pleased to see him regain that level of play and get such a special honor by tying the record. We just need to continue to get everybody on the same page with understanding how the small details impact so much."
 
Blasco's victory was one of five singles wins on the day for the Lancers and lifted them to their first win of the season, doing so against the No. 15 Division III team in the nation. The near-singles-sweep included five straight-set wins, including a dominant 6-2, 6-0 triumph by Blasco's doubles partner Guillermo Cagigas over Mary Washington's Joseph Brown at the No. 2 slot.
 
Lancer junior Guilherme Sergio, whose fall season included a flight title at the River City Tennis Open, cruised past Michael Fleming at No. 3, 6-2, 6-2. Freshman Ignacio Sandoval followed with the first spring victory of his young collegiate career with a 6-4, 6-4 takedown of Cole Tecce at No. 4.
 
Sophomore Marc Casasnovas rounded out the singles coup with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Priyan DeSilva at No. 6.
 
#GoWood
 
Longwood 5, Mary Washington 2
February 1, 2020
Fredericksburg, Va. (University Tennis Center)
 
Singles competition
1. BLASCO, Amadeo (LWU) def. HUTCHISON, Moses (UMW) 6-7, 7-5, retired
2. CAGIGAS, Guillermo (LWU) def. BROWN, Joseph (UMW) 6-2, 6-0
3. SERGIO, Guilherme (LWU) def. FLEMING, Michael (UMW) 6-2, 6-2
4. SANDOVAL, Ignacio (LWU) def. TECCE, Cole (UMW) 6-4, 6-4
5. WATSON, Andrew (UMW) def. ROCABERT, Ernest (LWU) 6-1, 6-1
6. CASASNOVAS, Marc (LWU) def. DeSILVA, Priyan (UMW) 6-2, 6-0
 
Doubles competition
1. BLASCO, Amadeo/CAGIGAS, Guillermo (LWU) def. HUTCHISON, Moses/FLEMING, Michael (UMW) 8-3
2. BROWN, Joseph/TECCE, Cole (UMW) def. SERGIO, Guilherme/ROCABERT, Ernest (LWU) 8-6
3. WATSON, Andrew/DeSILVA, Priyan (UMW) def. CASASNOVAS, Marc/NAYDENOV, Rosen (LWU) 8-6

#GoWood