NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Backed by two doubles wins and a dominant effort from the middle of the singles lineup, Longwood women's tennis opened its spring campaign with a 6-3 win over Division III power Christopher Newport Friday evening at CNU Tennis Courts.
 
In the program's first spring match under Longwood Director of Tennis Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez, the Lancers (1-0) rode straight-sets singles wins from the junior duo of No. 2 Jamie Breunig and No. 3 Marija Venta  and freshmen No. 4 Anika Tylek and No. 5 Emma Nurgazieva en route to the season-opening road win.
 
Unveiling the first look at the Lancers' 2019 lineup, the Lancers dominated Christopher Newport in the middle singles matchups with Breunig, Venta and Tylek all winning their decisive sets by 6-0 margins. Combined, those three dropped just five games, with Breunig defeating Christopher Newport's Olivia Reed 6-2, 6-0, Venta taking down Amanda Yermal 6-2, 6-0 and Tylek defeating Kara Ferner 6-1, 6-0.
 
From there, Nurgazieva joined Tylek in picking up her first collegiate win with an 8-5 decision over Reagan Delp.
 
The win is the Lancer women's first under Medina Alvarez, who took over the program in his second season at Longwood after leading the Longwood men to a 13-9 record and their first trip to the Big South semifinals last spring.
 
 "The most important thing is how we prepare ourselves for when we play," said Medina Alvarez, who will lead the Longwood men into their spring opener Saturday at Mary Washington. "Our philosophy is based on playing physical matches, waiting for the right momentum and making good decisions on the court. We did that overall, but I feel some of the players got caught up in the idea that if they're winning, the other player's going to give up. Usually how it works then is that the other player knows the only way they're going to win is if they play harder.
 
Longwood controlled Friday's opener from the start, jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the nine-point scoring format thanks to an 8-3 doubles win by the No. 2 Lancer duo of Yulia Almiron and Jamie Breunig. That set
 
Christopher Newport's lone singles win came at the top slot at the hands of sophomore Johanna Ranta-Aho, the former Capital Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year who took down Longwood No. 1 Almiron 6-4, 6-3. Ranta-Aho's win came just two weeks after the Captains junior earned the No. 20 national ranking in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Division III rankings.
 
"We have to be mindful of that and be respectful of that emotional side of the match and level ourselves," Medina Alvarez said. "We have to be able to finish what we started. Some of the matches we lost, it was rooted in that idea, and that we didn't comprehend that as the match evolved, we have to evolve as well. Just because you're winning now doesn't mean you'll be winning later. That's something we need to work on. We're going to watch the film, but overall it's good to start with a win. But we're always going to ask the reason why so we can move forward, improve and see the bigger picture."
 
The Lancers will look to ride the season-opening wave of momentum into Sunday's matchup at Bluefield State, the second of five straight road matches to begin the year. The Lancers continue next Friday with a trip to Chowan followed by a trek up north to Georgetown on Feb. 14 and then back to the Commonwealth to face Mary Washington on Feb. 17.
 
Longwood 6, Christopher Newport 3
February 1, 2019
Newport News, Va. (CNU Tennis Courts)
 
Singles competition
1. RANTA-AHO, Johanna (CNU) def. ALMIRON, Yulia (LWU) 6-4, 6-3
2. BREUNIG, Jamie (LWU) def. REED, Olivia (CNU) 6-2, 6-0
3. VENTA, Marija (LWU) def. YERMAL, Amanda (CNU) 6-2, 6-0
4. TYLEK, Anika (LWU) def. FERNER, Kara (CNU) 6-1, 6-0
5. NURGAZIEVA, Emma (LWU) def. Reagan Delp (CNU) 8-5
6. SAWYER, Sydney (CNU) def. NZEWI, Crystal (LWU) 8-6
 
Doubles competition
1. REED, Olivia/RANTA-AHO, Johanna (CNU) def. TYLEK, Anika/VENTA, Marija (LWU) 8-4
2. ALMIRON, Yulia/BREUNIG, Jamie (LWU) def. YERMAL, Amanda/DELP, Reagan (CNU) 8-3
3. NZEWI, Crystal/NURGAZIEVA, Emma (LWU) def. FERNER, Kara/GILBERT, Colette (CNU) 8-5
 
Match Notes
Longwood 0-0
Christopher Newport 0-0
 
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,3,2,1)
 
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