The South Carolina State Lady Bulldogs and Florida A&M Lady Rattlers will compete tomorrow in the 2009 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tennis Championship women’s final beginning at 9 a.m. followed by the South Carolina State Bulldogs and Hampton Pirates in the men’s finale at 11:30 a.m. at the Millbrook Tennis Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The South Carolina State Lady Bulldogs, who earned the top seed in the south, defeated No. 3 Bethune-Cookman Lady Wildcats 4-0 and will compete for their fifth straight MEAC women’s tennis title and sixth overall. After winning the doubles points at the number one (8-4) and number two (8-3) spots, South Carolina State’s Daria Sekerina defeated B-CU’s Monika Musilova 6-1, 6-2 for the point at the number two singles spot. The Lady Bulldogs won the match with simultaneous wins at the number three and four singles positions.
No. 2 Florida A&M Lady Rattlers defeated Hampton, the top seed in the north, 4-1 to advance to tomorrow’s final. With the two teams tied with one match a piece in doubles play, the Lady Rattlers duo of Kathline Durden and Latreece Olagbegi defeated Barenese Myers and Maria Ycaza 9-8 in a match that lasted one and a half hours.
During singles action, Hampton tied the match at 1-1 with a win at the number one singles spot. 2009 MEAC Player of the Year, Na-Hyun Baek defeated Rachel Pye in a hard fought match 7-6, 6-2. The Lady Rattlers battled back and won the number two, five and six singles positions.
In men’s action, top seeded South Carolina State defeated the Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman, 4-0 to earn a spot in the men’s title match. The Bulldogs won the doubles point and followed with wins at the one, two, and six singles position. South Carolina State has won four of the last five MEAC men’s tennis crowns and will compete for their eighth title overall.
In the second men’s semifinal, the Hampton Pirates defeated the Florida A&M Rattlers 4-3 in a match that lasted three and a half hours. Florida A&M took the lead after winning the doubles point and the number one and three singles spots. Hampton came back to tie the match at three-all with wins at the number four-six positions. Hampton’s Sung-Kwon Baek and Florida A&M’s Simbarashee Happy competed at the number two singles position to decide the match. Baek won the first set, while Happy won the second set. Tied at 1-1, Baek defeated Happy, 6-1 to lead the Pirates to their first championship appearance since the 2007 season. The Pirates will face the Bulldogs in the men’s championship final at 11:30 a.m.
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