The Longwood women’s tennis team wrapped up their regular season, after their final match against Hampton University was cancelled on Tuesday, April 12, due to weather conditions. The match will not be rescheduled due to there being so few days before both teams begin their conference tournaments. Longwood enters the Big South Tournament ranked as the No. 8 seed, and will face No. 9 seed Radford University on April 15.
Longwood won their match this past Monday, April 11 against Chowan 5-4. This gave them their tenth win of the season, their highest total in nine years. That has given the Lancers a lot of motivation and built up their momentum heading into the tournament.
“Anytime that you can create an environment where you are winning and where you are playing really good tennis, I think it definitely helps that momentum moving forward,” said interim head coach Rich Stoneman. “Now it’s just kind of can we build upon that momentum when playing Radford in the first round of the Big South tournament.”
Stoneman added that the team is going to continue with the same strategy that they have been following throughout the season. Stoneman also said the Lancers will continue to play hard and not take any team lightly, adding that there will be no lineup changes before the tournament. Stoneman highlighted the leadership on the team as well.
“We’ve got great leadership, and I think that’s the success of any good team is to have good leadership.” said Stoneman. “Our captains Mason Thomas, Anna Pelak and Paloma Alatorre. They are great captains and good leaders, but we also have some young freshman that are very talented.”
The three captains each won their singles match against Chowan. Pelak and Thomas also paired up in doubles and defeated Chowan’s Cynthia Carrier and Angelique Gouin, 8-1. Alatorre paired up with freshman Tess Willis in doubles and took an 8-3 victory over Chowan’s Roxana Daneshjoo and Anna Makhneva.
Now the focus shifts to the tournament, where Longwood will face Radford, who they defeated 4-3 on Feb. 27. The winner will play No. 1 seed Liberty University the following day Saturday, April 16. According to Stoneman, it will be a battle between the two teams, but he has confidence in his team.
“We never take anyone lightly. It is Big South play. It’s number eight versus number nine. It could go either way; we want it to go our way. I think our girls, there is a better feel about who they are and the confidence they have and the confidence we have in them” said Stoneman.
The [o1] Longwood women’s[o2] tennis team wrapped up their regular season, after their final match against Hampton University was cancelled on Tuesday, April 12[o3] , due to weather conditions. The match will not be rescheduled due to there being so few days before both teams begin their conference tournaments. Longwood enters the Big South Tournament ranked as the No. 8 seed, and will face No. 9 seed Radford University on April 15.
Longwood won their match this past Monday, April 11 against Chowan 5-4. This gave them their tenth win of the season, their highest [o4] total in nine years. That has given the Lancers a lot of motivation and built up their momentum heading into the tournament.
“Anytime that you can create an environment where you are winning and where you are playing really good tennis, I think it definitely helps that momentum moving forward,” said interim head coach Rich Stoneman. “Now it’s just kind of can we build upon that momentum when playing Radford in the first round of the Big South tournament.”
Stoneman added that the team is going to continue with the same strategy that they have been following throughout the season. Stoneman also said the Lancers will continue to play hard and not take any team lightly, adding that there will be no lineup changes before the tournament. Stoneman highlighted the leadership on the team as well.
“We’ve got great leadership, and I think that’s the success of any good team is to have good leadership.” said Stoneman. “Our captains Mason Thomas, Anna Pelak and Paloma Alatorre. They are great captains and good leaders, but we also have some young freshman that are very talented.”
The three captains [o5] each won their singles match against Chowan. Pelak and Thomas also paired up in doubles and defeated Chowan’s Cynthia Carrier and Angelique Gouin[o6] , 8-1. Alatorre paired up with freshman Tess Willis in doubles [o7] and took an 8-3 victory over Chowan’s Roxana Daneshjoo and Anna Makhneva.
Now the focus shifts to the tournament, where Longwood will face Radford, who they defeated 4-3 on Feb. 27. The winner will play No. 1 seed Liberty University the following day Saturday, April 16. According to Stoneman, it will be a battle between the two teams, but he has confidence in his team.
“We never take anyone lightly. It is Big South play. It’s number eight versus number nine. It could go either way; we want it to go our way. I think our girls, there is a better feel about who they are and the confidence they have and the confidence we have in them” said Stoneman.
