Bulldogs Narrowly Fall at Longwood

THE MATCHUP
Teams: UNC Asheville (6-9, 1-3 Big South Conference)
Longwood (8-2, 3-1 Big South Conference)
Location: H-SC Tennis Courts / Farmville, Va.
When: March 18, 2017 / 11 a.m.
Twitter: @ashevilledogs #ThePursuit

FARMVILLE, Va.—The UNC Asheville men's tennis squad dropped a 4-3 decision to Big South Conference foe Longwood, Saturday afternoon at the H-SC Tennis Courts.

The afternoon began with the No. 1 pairing of Henry Patten and Josh Swindler extending to a 10-match winning streak in doubles with their 6-1 triumph over Amadeo Blasco and Florian Uffer. Longwood's No. 2 duo of Arthur Bardelloto and Julian Farthing defeated Andrew Sinai and Edward Colclough, 6-4. Asheville clinched the doubles point when No. 3 Olly Cull and Reid Dillon topped Jorge Gomis and Noah Petralia, 7-5.

For the 14^th time this season, No. 1 Patten won in straight sets to remain undefeated, with a 6-3, 6-3, win over Uffer. Longwood would then rally to win, taking courts No. 2-5. No. 2 Swindler fell 6-4, 7-6, to Blasco. Court No. 3 saw Farthing top Dillon, 6-0, 6-3. Longwood's No. 4 Bardelloto downed Majed Yousif, 6-4, 6-0. On court No. 5, the Lancers' Noah Petralia defeated Cull, 6-1, 6-0. Asheville won on Court No. 6, when Sinai battled in a three-setter, topping Gomis, 6-4, 2-6, 7-5.

BULLDOG BITES
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore Henry Patten has started the season with some very impressive performances, earning himself last week's Big South Men's Tennis Player of the Week for matches played Feb. 27-March 6. Patten topped the No. 102 ranked singles player at the time, Scott Webster of Appalachian State, earlier this season. Patten also defeated the No. 66 ranked singles player at the time, Eduardo Mena of Tennessee Tech. The native of the U.K. improves to 15-0 in singles play on the year, winning every match but one in straight sets.

QUITE THE PAIR: The No. 1 duo of Henry Patten and Josh Swindler have been phenomenal this season. After today's victory, the top pairing improved to 14-1 on the season and are currently riding a 10-match winning streak.

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs will travel to Durham, N.C. to battle against North Carolina Central, Sunday, March 19, at the Dr. James W. Younge Tennis Courts. Start time is scheduled for noon.

QUOTABLES

"Longwood competed well today and deserved the win. We continued to get close but need to do a better job when the opportunities present themselves." –Head Coach Tom Hand

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Players Mentioned

Edward Colclough

Olly Cull

Reid Dillon

Henry Patten

Andrew Sinai

Josh Swindler

University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics