ROCK HILL, S.C. – Facing their second 3-1 deficit in as many days, Longwood men's tennis fought back and tied the match at 3-3, but a pair of tiebreaks at the fourth flight gave top-seeded Winthrop a 4-3 edge Tuesday in Big South semifinals action.
 
Longwood (13-9, 3-4 Big South) took down fourth-seeded and rival Liberty 4-3 in walk-off style Monday in quarterfinals action, but came out on the wrong side of a 4-3 decision Tuesday.
 
The loss ends a magical late-season push that saw the Lancers take 10 of its final 12 decisions and advance to the first-ever semifinals appearance in program history after securing their first Big South tournament victory Monday.
 
"It was a tough loss today. My guys proved to everybody in the conference today that we can compete against any other school," said first-year head coach Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez. "These players are laying the foundation of this program. Moving forward, we'll have more great wins and a different culture."
 
Winthrop (13-7, 7-0 Big South) used the early doubles point and split singles play 3-3 to hold off the upset-minded Lancers. The Eagles' Leandros Pappayiannis outlasted Monday's hero Julian Farthing 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5) to clinch the match.
 
Tuesday's loss ends the season for Longwood as well as the careers of seniors Jorge Godoy and Lachlan Manser. Godoy enjoyed a career-year in 2018 winning 18 matches, while Manser served as the team captain and played in 18 doubles matches – the second-most in a single season in his career.
 
After falling in the doubles point, sophomore ace Amadeo Blasco got the Lancers on the board with a straight-set 6-3, 6-4 win at the first flight, but it was a short-lived deadlock as Winthrop took straight-set decisions at flights five and six to push the Lancers to the brink of elimination.
 
Freshmen All-Big South performers Valentin Popescu and Rasiei Sakai answered the bell as the tandem collected two-set wins in flights two and three to draw the Lancers back even before the dramatic second-set tiebreak sealed it for the Eagles.
 
Longwood saw more milestones in the 2018 season as they made it back-to-back 13-win campaigns for the first time in program history while Farthing and Blasco are the only two Lancers to have 20-win seasons at the same time. Blasco, meanwhile, shattered the season record for wins with his 30-7 record as he's quickly raced up the all-time wins leaderboard with 50 singles wins and 42 doubles wins through just two seasons.
 
"We worked extremely hard this season," Medina Alvarez said. "We evolved in many different areas that we need too. When you're so close to a championship, a loss like this one is hard to take."
 
Medina Alvarez added, "I have no regrets for the season. I want the team to use this and go out on the court knowing they can be better. That's the mentality we want to have – regardless of the outcome, we always want more. The team played solid this week and proved that they can be that type of person. They just need to believe in that and maintain the daily routine to always do good by people, to always say the right things and always be accountable."
 
Winthrop moves on to the title match as they play the winner of Campbell and Gardner-Webb for an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
 
"I want to say thank you to Longwood athletics as well as everyone who's been supporting us and has been there for us. It's been amazing season for the team and the program," Medina Alvarez said. "At the same time, we need to learn from our experiences. The guys were overwhelmed by their spirit and emotions because we've never been to this point before."
 
"I told them that we can do this if you're willing to be disciplined and respectful, and most importantly, to have the will to go out there and push yourself to be successful every single time you're on the court or in the classroom. That's the mindset of someone who's going to do well in life. As a coach, that's what I want to inject into them."
 
Big South Semifinals
# 1 Winthrop 4, #5 Longwood 3
April 17, 2018 | Rock Hill, S.C.
 
Singles:
1. Blasco (LWU) def. Quiroz (WU) 6-3, 6-4
2. Popescu (LWU) def. Mitchell (WU) 6-4, 6-4
3. Sakai (LWU) def. Williamson (WU) 6-1, 6-3
4. Pappayiannis (WU) def. Farthing (LWU) 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5)
5. Dias (WU) def. Godoy (LWU) 6-2, 6-1
6. Ryan (WU) def. Hernandez (LWU) 6-3, 6-2
 
Doubles:
1. Blasco/Sakai (LWU) def. Quiroz/Mitchell (WU) 6-4
2. Dias/Ryan (WU) def. Godoy/Popescu (LWU) 6-4
3. Williamson/Gokhale (WU) def. Hernandez/Farthing (LWU) 6-3
 
Match Notes:
No. 5 Longwood – 13-9, 3-4 Big South
No. 1 Winthrop – 13-7, 7-0 Big South
 
Order of Finish:
Doubles (1, 2, 3); Singles (1, 6, 5, 3, 2, 4)
 
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