NORFOLK, Va. – Both top seeds on the men’s side advanced to the semifinals with sweeps in day one of the 2016 MEAC Men’s Tennis Championship on Thursday at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center on the campus of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va.

Northern top-seed Morgan State defeated southern fourth-seed North Carolina A&T State 4-0, while southern division top-seeded Bethune-Cookman Wildcats scored a sweep over fourth-seed from the northern division Howard University.

In the final session of the day, South Carolina State (S3) defeated Norfolk State (N2) 4-0 and Florida A&M (S2) came back to defeat Hampton (N3) 4-2.

Morgan State took the doubles point with wins in No. 1 and No. 3 as Treajh Ferguson and Evan Ward won 6-1 in the top spot and the tandem of Lucas Krusinski and Felix Andre won 6-0 at number three.

In singles, the Bears won at the No. 2-4 singles spots to seal the win.   Jeremy Field, a first-team All-MEAC selection won 6-0, 6-3 at number two, Andre won 6-3, 6-2 at number three and Ward won 6-3, 6-2 at number four.

The top seed from the southern division Bethune-Cookman scored wins at the number two and three doubles spots to take the team point.   Both wins were by 6-1 counts as Walid Gtari and Jose Plazas earned the number two win and Alvaro Barrera and Pablo Lopez got the victory at number three.

In singles, the top three matches didn’t finish as with three Bethune wins at numbers four through six singles clinched the match.   Plazas won at number four 6-3, 6-1 while Greg Almeida earned a 6-0, 6-2 win at number five.   Barrera scored a 6-2, 6-1 win at number six to help finish off the match.

South Carolina State joined the shutout run in its 4-0 victory over Norfolk State.   In doubles, NSU didn’t field a team at number three so SCSU got a win there and at number one behind Martin Figura and Jakub Vitek with a 6-3 decision to give them the team point.

During singles, the Bulldogs got wins at number three and five slots in contested matches along with a default win at number six.   Vitek won 6-1, 6-3 at number three and Aleksander Stupar won 6-0, 6-1 at number five to lock up the win.

Hampton scored wins in doubles matches at the second and third spots to take the team point against FAMU.   Matthew Foster-Estwick and Joshua McQueen won 6-2 at number two, while Charles Hudson and Miguel Suarez won 7-5 at number three for the Pirates.

In singles, the Rattlers struck back with wins in the top four matches to nail the team win.   Courage Okungbowa won 6-2, 6-1 at number one, Karlyn Small won 6-2, 6-0 at number two to get the Rattlers back into the match.   Walner Espinoza won 6-1, 6-0 at number four, while C. Augustin Waitman won the clinching match with a 7-5, 6-3 decision at number three.   Hampton got the singles point at number five singles behind Suarez who won 6-4, 6-2.

The semifinal pairings for Friday at noon will be Bethune-Cookman vs. South Carolina State and Morgan State facing Florida A&M.

On the women's side, Top-seeded Bethune-Cookman advanced to the semifinal round of the 2016 MEAC Women’s Tennis Championship following a 4-0 sweep over No. 4-seeded Northern Divisional team Delaware State.

The win extended the Lady Wildcats overall record to 12-11, while the Lady Hornets ended their season at 11-4.

With the victory, Bethune will face No. 3-seed South Carolina State beginning at 9 a.m. on Friday, April 22 also at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center.

Bethune-Cookman secured the doubles point and followed with singles match wins at No. 2 (Matea Roki),  No. 4 (Hilary Handon) and No. 6 (Alejandra Vidal) to seal the victory.

North Carolina Central also moved forward in the bracket following a 4-2 win over Northern Divisional top-seed Norfolk State.

The Lady Eagles claimed the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles point, then earned victories at the No. 1, No. 4 and No. 5 to seal the victory. Aissa Muamba earned a 6-1, 6-2 singles win at No. 1 over NSU’s Dajana Cjetvoic, while No. 4 Jamie Rogers defeated Andrea Macchiavello, 6-2, 6-3. Lynsey Cover, at No. 5 singles, clinched the victory with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Ana Popvic.

North Carolina Central moved to 6-12 overall, while the Spartans wrap up the 2016 season with a 9-12 final record.

Florida A&M, the No. 2-seed from the Southern Division, rolled past Morgan State, 4-1 in the quarterfinal match. The Lady Rattlers captured the doubles point and sealed the victory at No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6 singles.

Olivia Rolle knocked off Kayla Price, 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 3 spot, while Dominique Henry defeated Cierra Plummer, of Morgan State, 6-2, 6-3 in the No. 4 position to earn the win.

Florida A&M improved to 9-11 overall, while Morgan State ends the season with a 7-11 record. The Lady Rattlers advanced to the semifinals and will meet No. 4 North Carolina Central at 9 a.m.

South Carolina State advanced to the semifinals with a 4-0 victory over Howard. The Lady Bulldogs picked up the doubles point and earned wins at the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6 positions. Andjela Vasic, Marketa Marcanikova and Carla Petreanu garnered victories for South Carolina State.

For more information on the MEAC Men’s Tennis Championship or other sponsored sports, visit www.meacsports.com.

2016 MEAC Men’s Tennis Championship Results

(S1) Bethune-Cookman 4, (N4) Howard 0 (N1) Morgan State 4, (S4) North Carolina A&T 0 (S3) South Carolina State 4, (N2) Norfolk State 0 (S2) Florida A&M 4, (N3) Hampton 2

2016 MEAC Women’s Tennis Championship Results

(S1) Bethune-Cookman 4, (N4) Delaware State 0 (S2) Florida A&M 4, (N3) Morgan State 1 (S3) South Carolina State 4, (N2) Howard 0 (S4) North Carolina Central 4, (N1) Norfolk State 2