Courtesy of Morgan State Athletic Communications
Results
The Morgan State men's tennis team finished this past weekend as the HBCU National Champions in Atlanta, Ga. The Bears finished with 25 points, finishing eight points ahead of second-place Bethune-Cookman. Morgan State had four out of five finalists and won three out of the four finals matches that they competed in.
Leading the way for the Bears was Nihit Rawal, who finished the tournament 3-1 and was the finalist in the A Flight Singles -- losing in a tough three set match to Santiago Perez from Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) 4-6,7-6,6-4. Rawal had a big win in the quarterfinals over conference foe Vasil Ivanov from North Carolina A&T State in three sets.
Also playing in the A flight for the Bears was Oguzhan Ceylan, who finished as a quarterfinalist, losing to Santiago Perez. Ceylan went 1-1 in singles for the tournament.
Sebastian Lopez finished as a quarterfinalist in the B flight singles losing a tough three set match to Bethune-Cookman 16-14. Lopez went 2-1 in the B flight.
Shrey Gupta finished as a quarterfinalist in the B flight singles losing a tough three set to Jackson State. Gupta went 1-1 on the tournament.
Serhii Kharchev became a two-time HBCU national champion, winning the C flight over Phillip Lynch from Bethune-Cookman, 6-3, 6-3. Kharkev was 4-0 in singles play and only dropped one set all tournament.
Freshman Mark Amaefule made his HBCU National debut, finishing 1-1 in C flight singles, defeating Guillermo Franco from Shaw University, 6-3, 6-0, in the first round before falling to Shasteen from Bluefield State College.
In doubles, the Bears were dominant, winning both the A and B flights.
Lopez and Amaefule were A flight doubles champions defeating Battalla-Diaz/Perez from XULA in the finals 6-3. Lopez and Amaefule were 3-0 on the tournament.
Kharchez andOguzhan Ceylan also competed in the A flight doubles, losing in the first round to Bethune-Cookman 6-3.
Rawal and Gupta were B Flight national champions, going 4-0 on the tournament. They defeated Nadaraja/Torres-Dadall a split team from Alabama A&M and Jackson State.
The Gupta/Rawal pairing went 3-0 against Div. I competition in the B flight doubles.