ROCK HILL, S.C. — The Longwood women's tennis team began play in the 2024 Big South Women's Individual Tennis Championship at Rock Hill Tennis Center on Friday.
The Lancers opened the day with a doubles loss as Karina Rizvanova and Alexandra Magia fell to Charleston Southern's No. 1-seeded Noa Boyd and Amila Jusufbegovic, 8-1. The eighth-ranked Longwood pair next plays No. 5 Louise Booker and Ari Siegel from UNC Asheville at 9 a.m., on Saturday in the consolation draw.
Rizvanova then fell to top-seeded Emma Shasteen in the main draw of the singles competition, 6-1, 6-0, and will play No. 9 Elizabeth Tindera of UNC Asheville at noon in the consolation draw.
No. 2 Boyd then took down 15th-ranked Elizaveta Gnilozubova, 6-2, 6-2. Gnilozubova next plays seventh-seeded Emilia Roslund from Gardner-Webb, also at noon Saturday in the consolation draw.
The inaugural Big South individual championship serves as a qualifier for the ITA Conference Masters Championships. The main draw singles and doubles champions will earn automatic entry into the event set for Nov. 7-10 in Rome, Ga.
