FREDERICKSBURG, Va. - Thanks to a flurry of singles victories, the Longwood women's tennis team started their spring season in impressive fashion with a 5-2 takedown of Mary Washington.
After dropping the final two doubles matches to fall behind 1-0, the Lancers exploded for five singles wins over Mary Washington in the one-through-five positions to win their season opening dual on Saturday afternoon.
Yulia Almiron and
Emma Nurgazieva led Longwood with a pair of singles wins to accompany their doubles triumph, while
Marija Venta,
Jamie Breunig, and
Maria Saez added solo wins of their own.
"The first match allows you to see who you are," said second-year head coach Jhonnatan Medina Alzarez. "We need to be more aggressive at the net in doubles play instead of waiting for the other team to make a mistake. In singles, I think that we played really well. As we move to tomorrow, we are going to continue to work on the little things now and the rest of the season."
The Lancers captured the first doubles match of the contest in an 8-7 victory courtesy of Almiron and Nurgazieva, but fell in the following two prompting the need for a strong singles performance.
Longwood responded with a dominant performance where they dropped just one set across five victories that propelled the Lancers to a 5-2 finish.
Playing out of the first position, freshman
Maria Saez came back from a set down to win 12 of the next 14 games to tie the match for Longwood. Junior
Yulia Almiron, playing as the two, comfortably took care of Mary Washington's Lauren Quinn with a 6-2, 6-3 showing. Seniors
Jamie Breunig and
Marija Venta also flashed their experience, as they each needed just two sets to hand the Eagles two more defeats. Sophomore Nurgazieva added a victory in the fourth position for the Lancers, who have now started the spring season with a victory for the third-straight season.
"I am pretty happy about how they looked," added Alvarez.
The Lancers are back in action tomorrow, when Longwood heads to Lynchburg, Va. for a showdown with Bluefield State College.
Longwood 5, Mary Washington 2
February 1, 2020
Fredericksburg, Va. (University Tennis Center)
Doubles
No. 1:
Yulia Almiron and
Emma Nurgazieva (LWU) def. Claire Coleman and Abby Moghtader (UMW), 8-7
No. 2: Lauren Quinn and Rachel Cooper (UMW) def.
Marija Venta and
Jamie Breunig (LWU), 8-5
No. 3: Amanda Hagino and Zoe Panizza (UMW) def.
Crystal Nzewi and
Maria Saez (LWU), 8-3
Singles
No. 1:
Maria Saez (LWU) def. Claire Coleman (UMW), 3-6, 6-1, 6-1
No. 2:
Yulia Almiron (LWU) def. Lauren Quinn (UMW), 6-2, 6-3
No. 3:
Jamie Breunig (LWU) def. Abby Moghtader (UMW), 6-3, 7-6
No. 4:
Emma Nurgazieva (LWU) def. Rachel Cooper (UMW), 6-1, 6-5
No. 5:
Marija Venta (LWU) def. Amanda Hagino (UMW), 6-2, 6-2
No. 6: Zoe Panizza (UMW) def.
Crystal Nzewi (LWU), 7-6, 6-1
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