NSU Men Wins MEAC Opener over Coppin State
NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State men’s tennis team won its conference opener on Thursday afternoon, downing Coppin State by a 6-1 margin at the NSU Tennis Complex.
The Spartans finally played their first of five MEAC Northern Division matchups on the season. NSU ran its overall record to 3-12 while keeping the Eagles winless at 0-5 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
CSU got its only point of the match at No. 6 singles, where the Spartans defaulted due to their short-handed lineup. They also had to default at No. 3 doubles but won the other two matches handily.
Freshmen Benedikt Henning and Dan Dumitrascu won by a 6-0 margin over Gabriel Franca and Andres Diaz at the No. 1 spot. Sophomores Antonio Pejic and Fatehdeep Singh won by a 6-1 score at the second position over the CSU tandem of Gavin Lewis and Christian Duchnak.
It was freshman Flavian Fernandez for the Spartans who made it through singles play without dropping a game. He posted a 6-0, 6-0 win over Ross Olexa at the fifth spot in the lineup.
Henning won by a 6-0, 6-1 margin over Franca at the top spot in the lineup, and Singh also dropped just one game in a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Diaz at No. 4 singles.
In the other two matches, Pejic defeated Duchnak, 6-2, 6-0, at the second slot, while Dumitrascu pushed past Lewis at the third spot in the lineup, 6-1 and 6-3.
NSU will play its next match against a conference foe, this time Hampton on Tuesday at 3 p.m. at the NSU Tennis Complex.
For more information visit www.nsuspartans.com
Spartans Sweep Coppin State
NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State women’s tennis team moved to 2-0 in conference play with a 7-0 sweep of Coppin State on Thursday afternoon at the NSU Tennis Complex.
NSU lost just six games in singles and one in doubles to come away with the victory, improving its overall record to 4-8 this season. The loss dropped Coppin State to 1-5 and 0-3 in conference play.
The Eagles defaulted at No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles due to their short-handed lineup. The Spartans won the doubles point after securing wins at the other two positions. Senior Andrea Macchiavello and freshman Marta Gomar won by a 6-0 margin over Ashley Milo and Carentxa Goede at the No. 1 spot.
Junior Ana Popovic and sophomore Dajana Cvjetkovic earned a 6-1 victory at the second slot over Miranda Taylor and Precious Udofe.
Later in the afternoon, Cvjetkovic and Macchiavello did not drop a game in their singles victories. Cvjetkovic earned the 6-0, 6-0 win over Milo at the No. 1 spot, while Macchiavello won by the same margin at the fourth position against Taylor.
Junior Liza Gordeeva won at the second slot over Goede by a 6-1, 6-0 score, and Gomar downed Tanna Nita by a 6-0, 6-1 margin at the third spot in the lineup. Udofe had the most success for the Eagles, winning four games but ultimately falling short against Popovic at the fifth spot, 6-2 and 6-2.
The Spartans were coming off a 7-0 win in their first MEAC match against Delaware State last Friday. NSU will next play a non-conference contest at Richmond on Saturday at 1 p.m.
For more information visit www.nsuspartans.com
Bethune-Cookman Finishes Home Slate With Win Over Rhode Island
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman wrapped up its home schedule Thursday with a 6-1 victory over Rhode Island at City Island Courts.
Mina Matsuba won her seventh straight singles match and Alejandra Vidal her sixth as the defending Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champions (10-11) snapped a two-match losing skid.
Matea Roki and Karen Romero also won at singles, ending three and two match individual streaks. Graduate senior Ancia Ifill won at both singles and doubles in her final home appearance.
Bethune-Cookman took all three doubles matches from Rhode Island (2-10) for the doubles point.
The Lady Wildcats are now poised for two critical matches – April 2 at South Carolina State and April 9 at Florida A&M to determine the top seed for the MEAC tournament April 19-22 in Norfolk. Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M are currently 3-0 in league play.
For more information visit www.bcuathletics.com.
Savannah State Drops Home Finale
SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Savannah State University women’s tennis (0-19) fell to Western Carolina University (9-5) 7-0 in the Lady Tigers home finale Thursday at the Tiger Tennis Courts.
The Lady Tigers lost the doubles point after SSU’s doubles duo of Rachida Kateb and Jennyfer Vivas fell to WCU’s doubles team of Savannah Taronto and Montse Mesalles 6-1 at the No. 1 doubles position, while SSU’s doubles duo Bria Burrows and Tiffany Williams fell to WCU’s doubles team of Erin Maguire and Gaby Hurt 6-0 at the No. 2 doubles position.
With Sandy Lochu and Elizabeth Geronimo out with injuries, WCU’s doubles duo of Elizabeth Ansari and Alex Webb won by default at the No. 3 doubles position. And with those two injuries, Ansari and Maguire won at the No. 5 and No. 6 singles position, respectively, by default to give Western Carolina a 3-0 lead.
Kateb, playing at the No. 1 singles position, fell to Nicole Nielly 6-2, 6-2, while Vivas fell to Alex Webb 6-2, 6-4 at the No. 2 singles position. Burrows lost to Hurt 6-0, 6-0 at the No. 3 singles position and Williams fell to Mesalles 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 4 singles position.
The Lady Tigers finish the season in Statesboro next weekend and face the University of Louisiana at Monroe on April 2 at 2:30 p.m. and Georgia Southern on April 3 at noon.
For more information visit www.ssuathletics.com.