RICHMOND, Va. – The Longwood University men's tennis team fell to in-state opponent VCU (5-2) in a 5-0 decision before topping Morgan State University (0-2), 4-1, in a doubleheader at the Thalimer Tennis Center on Saturday in Richmond. The Lancers were led by junior Daniel Elston/St. Austell, Cornwall, England, who won a hard-fought, three-set match in the No. 1 position against Morgan State. Longwood (1-3) will play again next week against North Carolina State University on Sunday, February 9 at 6 p.m. in Raleigh, N.C.

"VCU is one of the top teams in the nation and showed that today," said head coach Jakob Gustafsson. "They didn't hold back and played their top players against us. It was a very good experience for us to play them and we showed that we belonged out there.

"It was great for this team to finish the day off with a win. We talked all week about not playing the best tennis, but instead being the best out there. We showed great effort, discipline and tactics to pull this win off. Morgan State has a quality team and I was very happy to see us come back late in matches to win even without our best tennis."

The Lancers were winless against VCU, as junior Daniel Elston/St. Austell, Cornwall, England and senior Edward Becker/Sydney, Australia dropped a 6-4, 6-3 decision to open the match in doubles play. All four Lancers were bested in singles action, with junior Steed Johnson/Ashokie, N.C. in the No. 1 position, freshman Warren Bryan/Greensboro, N.C. at the No. 2 position, and sophomores Justin Higgs/Nassua, Bahamas and Bharani Sankar/Glen Allen at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.

Despite the earlier setback, the Lancers pushed on and earned a 4-1 victory in a neutral-site match against Morgan State. Beginning in doubles play, Sankar and classmate James Fudge/Kaarst, Germany defeated the duo of Abraham and Abraham in a 3-6, 6-4, 3-2 ret. decision. In singles play, Elston set the trend at the No. 1 position by downing Park in a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 decision. Becker took the sole singles loss of the match, falling 7-6 (4), 6-2 at the No. 2 position. Johnson (6-3, 6-2) and Bryan (7-5, 6-2) also won their singles matches in the No. 3 and No. 4 positions, respectively.

VCU Results
Singles
1. Johnson LOST against Huegas 6-1, 6-2
2. Bryan LOST against Voscek 6-3, 6-1
3. Higgs LOST against Velickovic 6-0, 6-2
4. Sankar LOST against Svensson 6-1, 6-2

Doubles
1. Elston/ Becker LOST against Argente/ Pimentel 6-4, 6-3

Morgan State Results
Singles
1. Elston WON against Park 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
2. Becker LOST against Ward 7-6 (4), 6-2
3. Johnson WON against Tash 6-3, 6-2
4. Bryan WON against Borodkin 7-5, 6-2

Doubles
Sankar/Fudge WON against Abraham/Abraham 3-6, 6-4, 3-2 ret.