NORFOLK, Va., April 14, 2021—
South Carolina State senior Marcelo Rodriguez was named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Men’s Tennis Player of the Week, presented by Coca-Cola, the conference office announced today, and
teammate Elyes Marouani was named Rookie of the Week.
Norfolk State senior Paula Fortuno was named Women’s Tennis Player of the Week and
teammate Laura Ruiz was named Rookie of the Week.
Rodriguez (Sr., Panama City, Panama) led the Bulldogs to back-to-back wins over Gardner Webb at the No. 2 spot, defeating Chriajan Van Wyk 6-2, 6-4, and over North Carolina Central with a win over Amit Baran at the No. 2 spot, 6-0, 5-3 to capture the MEAC Southern Division regular-season Title. He also helped win the doubles point 6-3 at the No. 1 spot versus Gardner-Webb.
Marouani (Fr., Tunis, Tunisia) racked up wins at the No. 3 spot, defeating Breno Plentz of Gardner-Webb 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 and Clark Miles of North Carolina Central 6-3, 6-1 capture the MEAC Southern Division regular-season title – on top of helping notch the doubles point against Gardner-Webb.
Fortuno (Sr., Vila-Real, Spain) defeated Delaware State’s Lolita Kozina 6-4, 6-3 at No. 1 singles as the Spartans picked up the win to remain unbeaten in MEAC play and take the Northern Division regular-season title. She also recorded a doubles win, 6-4, at the No. 3 spot.
Ruiz (Fr., Madrid, Spain) clinched the win over Delaware State – and the Northern Division regular-season title – with a 2-6, 7-6, 6-0 win over Daria Julia at No. 3 singles. She also notched a 6-4 doubles win in that match, and Ruiz also recorded singles and doubles wins over Virginia Wesleyan.
Other Top Performers
Andres Alcaraz (Norfolk State) defeated Virginia Wesleyan’s Mitchell Perry 6-2, 6-4 and picked up a 6-0 doubles win.
Santiago Rendon (Norfolk State) won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3 singles over Virginia Wesleyan’s Anthony Wilson.
Stipan Madzar (North Carolina Central) defeated Aleska Daskaovic of South Carolina State 7-6, 6-3 at No. 1 singles.
Maria Picazo (North Carolina Central) defeated Coastal Carolina’s Isabella Weatherhead 6-3, 4-6, 10-6 at No. 5 singles.