SOUTH FULTON, Ga. – The North Carolina Central University men's and women's tennis programs competed at the HBCU National Tennis Championships at the South Fulton Tennis Center on Sept. 15-17, and the women's program finished second with multiple finalists.
Freshman Alejandra Hidalgo (Madrid, Spain) won the women's C flight in her first collegiate competition, and sophomore Kennedy Hill (Tyrone, Ga.) was a finalist in the women's A flight. In total, four different women's tennis players reached the semifinal round of their respective flights; while the two doubles pairings of Hidalgo/Maria Picazo (Madrid, Spain), and Isabelle Exsted (Savage, Minn.) with Timothee Legaud of Alabama State reached the semifinals of the Women's Doubles B Flight.
The NCCU Women collected a total of 22.5 points for a narrow second-place finish ahead of Alabama A&M with 22 points. Xavier University (LA) won the women's championship with 25 points.
On the men's side, Sebastian Pino (Caracas, Venezuela) advanced to the semifinals of the men's A flight, and the men finished fifth.
Hidalgo dropped just one set on the way to her flight victory, and that was in the round of 16 before closing the match with an 11-9 win in the third set tiebreak. She battled to defeat Valentina Lagracha of XULA in the championship, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
Hill made her way to the finals of the A flight with straight-set victories, all the way up to the semifinal round. She fell in the first set, 7-5 to Warona Mdulwa of Tennessee State, but then rallied to take the second and third sets, 6-1 and 6-4 to advance to the championship round. Hill faced Jasmine Boyd of Alabama A&M in a hard-fought contest, but the match was decided, 6-4, 6-3 in favor of Boyd.
Picazo advanced to the semifinal round of the women's B flight by winning her first three matches in straight sets. She won seven consecutive sets, including the first of her semifinal matchup with Genesis Whitelock of Florida A&M, but eventually fell in three sets.
Exsted came just one set shy from facing teammate Hidalgo in the final of the women's C flight, as she fell in three sets in the semifinals. She won the first set of the semifinal in a tiebreak against Lagracha, but fell, 6-4 and 6-3, in the final two sets.
Of note, Exsted faced her doubles partner, Legaud, in the round of 16 in the C flight. Exsted prevailed in a dramatic three-set win, 7-5, 3-6, 11-9.
Pino advanced to the semifinals of the men's A flight following a 6-3, 6-3 win in the quarterfinals, but was defeated by eventual flight champion, Jonasz Dziopak from Tennessee State.
Both tennis teams found success in the consolation brackets as well, as five Eagles reached the semifinal rounds of their flights.
Lafi Joao (Gaithersburg, Md.) advanced to the semifinals of the women's B flight consolation bracket before dropping her match to bracket champion, Reagan Harris from FAMU.
Oliver Saarinen (Espoo, Finland) was defeated in the championship of the men's A flight consolation bracket, 8-6, by Jacobi Bain from XULA. Facu Olmedo (Miami, Fla.) reached the semifinals of the men's B flight consolation bracket, but fell, 8-2, to Chetanna Amadike of AAMU, who won the consolation bracket. Both LaQuon Gilchrist (Raleigh, N.C.) and Neiman Sneed (Augusta, Ga.) advanced to the semifinals of the men's C flight consolation bracket.
The men's tennis program will compete again at the Elon Invitational on Sept. 23-25, and the women's tennis team will host the NCCU Invitational on Oct. 7-8.
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