BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Longwood seniors Malin Allgurin and Nicole Parker gutted out back-to-back singles victories to stage a 4-3 comeback win over Gardner-Webb Wednesday afternoon at the Webb Tennis Complex.
 
The Lancers (5-5, 1-1 Big South) trailed 3-2 to the host Runnin' Bulldogs with only Allgurin and Parker left standing in the way of defeat, but the senior duo locked up three-set singles wins at No. 1 and No. 6 to power Longwood to a second straight win.
 
Allgurin, the senior ace, started the charge with a 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-0 win in the top slot over Gardner-Webb's Yasmin Doost. The win was Allgurin's sixth of the year, second straight and her second of the day after pairing with Paloma Alatorre for an 8-7 (3) doubles victory.
 
After Allgurin tied the score, Parker found herself similarly in a hole, trailing Teodora Stanciu 5-2 in set three. Just one game away from a loss, however, Parker rallied to take five straight games and knock off Stanciu 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 to clinch the victory.
 
"I'm so proud of the girls," first-year head coach Bruce Myers said. "They lost to Garnder-Webb twice last season, 6-1 and 4-0, so it really shows how far they've come since last year."
 
Parker's match-clinching victory came after she missed the doubles round due to a conflict with an online class project. In her absence, Myers, "on a hunch," paired Mason Thomas with Anna Pelak at No. 2 singles for the first time this season. The move paid off, as the duo edged Gardner-Webb's Rokia ` and Stanciu 8-7 (1) to preempt a doubles point win.
 
Mason Thomas kept the momentum in Longwood's favor with a 6-0, 6-3 win at No. 5 singles, continuing her dominant stretch in that spot. Thomas improved to 8-2 on the year with seven of those wins coming in straight sets.
 
Gardner-Webb fought out of that 2-0 deficit, however, picking up wins from Sacko at No. 2, Sarah Rieckmann at No. 3 and Catherine White at No. 4 to stake a 3-2 lead. But the Lancers, playing outdoors for only the second time in their past six matches, leaned on their seniors to come away with a second straight win after losing five straight road matches in indoor facilities.
 
"We are definitely an outdoor team," Myers said. "The girls could have packed it in, losing five matches in a row, away, indoors. But they didn't, and I'm proud of them. They're committed to getting better, and that's exactly what they've done."
 
Longwood will continue their nine-match road swing Friday in a 2 p.m. meeting against Winthrop in Rock Hill, S.C.
 
Longwood 4, Gardner-Webb 3
March 4, 2015
Boiling Springs, N.C. (Webb Tennis Complex)
 
Doubles
No. 1: Malin Allgurin/Paloma Alatorre (LWU) d. Yasmin Doost/Mary Walker Mixon 8-7 (3)
No. 2: Mason Thomas/Anna Pelak (LWU) d. Rokia Sacko/Teodora Stanciu 8-7 (1)
No. 3: Catherine White/Sarah Rieckmann (GWU) d. Maria Coronel/Lauren Tucker 8-0
 
Singles
No. 1: Malin Allgurin (LWU) d. Yasmin Doost 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-0
No. 2: Rokia Sacko (GWU) d. Anna Pelak 6-1, 5-7, 6-1
No. 3: Sarah Rieckmann (GWU) d. Maria Coronel 6-0, 4-6, 6-3
No. 4: Catherine White (GWU) d. Paloma Alatorre 6-3, 6-2
No. 5: Mason Thomas (LWU) d. Mary Walker Mixon 6-0, 6-3
No. 6: Nicole Parker (LWU) d. Teodora Stanciu 6-3, 5-7, 7-5
 
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