Longwood Falls to North Alabama in UTR Sports NIT Championship Semifinals, 4-2
ROME, Ga. — The Longwood males’s tennis group noticed its season come to a detailed with a 4-2 loss to North Alabama in the semifinals of the 2026 UTR Sports NIT Championship on the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College on Thursday.
The third-seeded Lancers rallied to inside 3-2 with singles victories from sophomore Daniel Lopez and and junior Daniel Borisov on courts 4 and two, respectively, nonetheless No. 2 North Alabama superior with a three-set victory at No. 6.
Lopez topped Alex Despoja 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 to minimize into the Lions’ lead. Borisov then dispatched Alberto Altur, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, to pull his group inside one.
North Alabama’s Satoru Nakajima received by senior Alejandro Uribe, 6-0, in the third set to clinch the match after the gamers break up the primary two units. Uribe gained the primary, 6-4, whereas Nakajima returned the favor in the second, taking it by the identical rating.
The Lions opened the match successful the doubles level. Lachlan Brain and Samu Dominguez defeated Lopez and Uribe, 6-3, at No. 3 earlier than Izan Orgiles and Altur beat Timéo Puech and Borisov, 6-4, at No. 1. Nakajima and Despoja have been up on Marko Mrdak and Rufus Plane, 5-4, when that match was halted.
North Alabama prolonged the lead to 2-0 as Orgiles defeated Plane, 6-4, 6-0, at No. 3. Dominguez then topped Mrdak, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 5.
The match ended with Puech main 4-1 in the third set in opposition to Brain at No. 1.Puech gained the primary set, 6-4, whereas Brain responded with to take the second, 6-3.
North Alabama (15-9) will meet both top-seeded Virginia Tech or No. 4 Chattanooga in the championship match Friday at 9 a.m.
At 13-7 total, the Lancers tallied probably the most wins in a season since 2019.