The Longwood women's tennis team has had success at home, boasting a 4-1 record at the Lancer Courts. With wins over St. Joseph's, Chowan, Norfolk State and Bucknell, the Lancers have made it difficult for opponents to visit Farmville. The only thing missing from the list is a Big South Conference opponent.
Longwood had one more chance to defeat a Big South foe as the Presbyterian College Blue Hose came to town on Malin Allgurin and Nicole Parker’s senior day.
The chilly Saturday morning about started with the Blue Hose taking the momentum quickly from the seniors as Allgurin and sophomore Paloma Alatorre dropped the first doubles match, 8-3. Senior Parker and sophomore Anna Pelak followed with another doubles loss, 8-4.
With the doubles points lost, the Lancers found a breakthrough in the form of sophomore Mason Thomas and junior Maria Coronel winning with sharp passing shots, 8-2.
As singles matches began, seniors Allgurin and Parker both won in straight sets. Allgurin showing why she is the No. 1 on the singles latter with her 6-0, 6-1 victory of Presbyterian's freshman No. 1 Brittany Nuttall. Parker also dominated at the other side of the latter, winning 6-2, 6-0 in similar fashion to her senior counterpart. The winning trend continued as Thomas dispatched Blue Hose sophomore Madison Utberg, 6-2, 6-0.
The Lancers won three straight points, then watched as Pelak was locked in a tough back and forth with junior Claire-Mitchell Andrews of Presbyterian, in which they were tied at one set a piece, after Pelak responded with a second set tiebreaker win. Pelak could not hold onto the momentum as she dropped the final set, 6-3.
The Lancers still had hope as Alatorre and Coronel started their matches with first set wins as the tide started to turn as Alatorre was deadlocked in her match due to a scoring discrepancy in the second set taking it to the seven point tiebreaker for the set; she lost the second set 7-5 in the tiebreaker. Coronel wasn’t able to win the last set against Blue Hose senior Carolina deLoach, 6-0.
The Blue Hose defeated the hosting Lancers 4-3, after Coronel dropped her last set.
"This was a tough match, an emotional day for the seniors who played superb," Longwood head coach Bruce Myers told Longwood's official athletics website. "We had a chance and thought that (Alatorre) won her match, which would have clinched our fourth point but there was a scoring discrepancy between the players, and the result didn't favor us. It was unfortunate because (Alatorre) battled her tail off and she thought she won the match, as did I.”
Presbyterian earned their first in-conference win since April 12, 2012 when they defeated UNC Asheville 4-3 as well.
"The bottom line is it just seemed like one of those days that nothing fell our way,” Myers said. The loss ends the conference schedule at home as only Delaware and North Carolina Central come to Lancer Courts this Saturday at 9 a.m. giving the Lancers one last chance for another win before heading to the Conference Tournament.
Malin Allgurin both defeated her Presbyterian College counterpart in straight sets. Allgurin won her match in two sets and only allowed Blue Hose freshman Brittany Nutall to win one game overall as she took it 6-0, 6-1. This was the women’s last Big South Conference home game, but they still have two left against Delaware and North Carolina Central at their home court to officially close out their season at home.
Lancers celebrate seniors Nicole Parker (left) and Malin Allgurin (right) before losing to the Presbyterian College Blue Hose, 4-3 on March 28.
Seniors Nicole Parker defeated her Presbyterian College counterpart in straight sets. Parker had much of the same luck as she defeated Presbyterian’s sophomore Madison Utberg in two sets and only allowed her to win two games (one more game than teammate Nutall) as Parker took that one 6-2, 6-0. This was the women’s last Big South Conference home game, but they still have two left against Delaware and North Carolina Central at their home court to officially close out their season at home.
