NORFOLK, Va. – The South Carolina State Bulldogs made it a clean sweep on Saturday as the men’s tennis team captured the 2016 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Men’s Championship with a 4-0 victory over Florida A&M University at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center on the campus of Old Dominion University.
Earlier in the day South Carolina State’s women’s team won the championship also with a 4-0 sweep of Florida A&M.
“We’ve battled so many injuries this year,” South Carolina State Head Coach Hardeep Judge said. “Everybody stepped up all year long. We played FAMU and it was a tough match in Tallahasse earlier in the year. We worked on a lot of things we needed to work on and I think that was the difference.”
In doubles, the Bulldogs took victories at the top two lines to take the team point. At number one, Jakub Vitek and Martin Figura defeated C. Agustin Waitman and Walner Espinoza 7-6 (7-5). The number two line saw Vladyslav Yanchenko and Salih Gilmutdinov took a 6-3 win over Courage Okungbowa and Illya Skoromnyy.
South Carolina State scored wins at numbers one, two and five singles to finish off the sweep. Yanchenko defeated Karlyn Small 6-3, 6-0 at number two and Aleksander Stupar knocked off Jalen Evans 6-4, 6-2 at number five. Figura scored a 6-2, 6-1 win over Okungbowa at the top line for the clinching point.
The championship for the Bulldogs was the eighth in a row, 11th in the last 12 completed tournaments and 14th overall.
With the win, South Carolina State (12-8) earned the conference’s automatic qualification to the NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Championships. The NCAA selection show will air on May 3 at 5:30 p.m. online at www.ncaa.com.
For more information about men’s tennis, please visit www.meacsports.com.
Men’s All-Tournament
Outstanding Performer: Jakub Vitek, South Carolina State
Outstanding Coach: Hardeep Judge, South Carolina State
Doubles
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#3
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Alvaro Barrera/Pablo Lopez
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Bethune-Cookman
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#2
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Salih Gilmutdinov/Vladyslav Yanchenko
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South Carolina State
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#1
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Martin Figura/Jakub Vitek
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South Carolina State
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Singles
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#6
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Illya Skoromnyy
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Florida A&M
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#5
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Alexander Stupar
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South Carolina State
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#4
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Evan Ward
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Morgan State
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#3
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Jakub Vitek
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South Carolina State
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#2
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Vladyslav Yanchenko
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South Carolina State
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#1
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Courage Okungbowa
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Florida A&M
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