The Norfolk State women’s tennis team lost all three doubles matches but came back to win the first four singles contests to defeat Longwood by a 4-1 margin on Sunday, April 10, afternoon at the NSU Tennis Complex. Photo from NSUSpartans.com.

NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State women’s tennis team lost all three doubles matches but came back to win the first four singles contests to defeat Longwood by a 4-1 margin on Sunday, April 10, afternoon at the NSU Tennis Complex.

The Spartans had lost to the Lancers each of the last five seasons but put that behind them even after falling into an early hole. NSU won three of the singles matches in straight sets to improve to 7-9 overall while dropping Longwood to 9-13 on the season.

The match did not start off well for NSU, as Longwood won all three doubles matches for a 1-0 lead. Fallon Burger and Isis Gill-Reid earned a win at No. 1 doubles by downing junior Liza Gordeeva and sophomore Dajana Cvjetkovic, 6-3.

At the third position, Paloma Alatorre and Maria Coronel also won by a 6-3 score, defeating junior Ana Popovic and freshman Marta Gomar. At the middle spot, Anna Pelak and Mason Thomas pulled out a 6-2 win over Spartan seniors Andrea Macchiavello and Mafalda Lhorca.

Cvjetkovic and Gordeeva got revenge by winning at the first and second singles slots, respectively. Cvjetkovic downed Burger by a 6-2 and 6-3 score, while Gordeeva defeated Pelak by margins of 6-3 and 6-1 at the second position.

Popovic also won in straight sets, posting a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Thomas at the fifth position. Macchiavello made it a team victory with a comeback win over Alatorre at the fourth position. After falling in the first set, 6-1, Macchiavello rebounded to win the next two sets, 6-2 and 6-0.

The other two matches were halted when NSU secured the win. At No. 3 singles, Gomar fell to Gill-Reid in the first set, 6-2, before winning the second set, 6-2. Gomar was ahead 2-0 in the third set before the match ended. Coronel, meanwhile, won the first set over Lhorca at No. 6 singles, 7-6, including 7-2 in the tiebreaker, and was up 4-3 in the second set as well.

NSU will host VCU on Tuesday, April 12, at 3 p.m. followed by a match against UMES later in the day at 7 p.m. at the NSU Tennis Complex.

Originally posted on NSUSpartans.com.