NORFOLK, Va., March 22, 2023—Morgan State junior Mikael Carpenter was named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Men’s Tennis Player of the Week, presented by Coca-Cola, the conference office announced today, and the Bears’ Bertin Karenzi was named Men’s Rookie of the Week. South Carolina State freshman Soyfa Vitaliyena Chu was named Women’s Tennis Player of the Week, and Women’s Rookie of the Week.
 
Carpenter (Jr., Suitland, Md.) was undefeated in three singles and two doubles matches at the MEAC Round-Up over the weekend. He opened the weekend with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 win over South Carolina State’s Aissa Benchakroun before defeating North Carolina Central’s Sebastian Pino (6-3, 6-0) and Norfolk State’s Federico Rebecchini (6-2, 6-2) – and all three victories came at the No. 1 position.
 
Karenzi (Fr., Rawanda) went 2-0 in both singles and doubles play in the MEAC Round-Up, pairing with Carpenter for his doubles wins. At No. 4 singles, Karenzi defeated Norfolk State’s Boris Lunin 6-3, 6-2, and he also won at No. 5 singles, 6-2, 6-4 over North Carolina Central’s Shaka Cristellotti.
 
Chu (Fr., Kazakhstan) went a combined 8-0 at the MEAC Round-Up, winning all four singles and all four doubles matches at the No. 1 spot in helping the Bulldogs win all four matches for the weekend. She notched singles wins over Howard’s Jordan Grayson (6-4, 6-2), Delaware State’s Kit Yi Kay Au-Yeung (6-2, 6-3), Averiana Mitchell (6-4, 6-0) and Megan Etienne (6-1, 6-3).
 
Other Top Performers
Noelani Lui (Delaware State) was 2-1 in both singles and doubles action at the MEAC Round-Up, earning wins at No. 2 singles over Norfolk State and North Carolina Central.
 
Sifa Butcher (Howard) was 3-0 in singles play at the MEAC Round-Up, including a 6-3, 6-4 win over South Carolina State’s Teodora Vujicic.
 
Marcel Dawson (Howard) won singles matches over Norfolk State’s Hugo Massoni Lena and North Carolina Central’s Oliver Saarinen.
 
Selah Stibbins (Howard) defeated Rachida Berjane of South Carolina State 6-1, 6-4.
 
Aleksandra Evdokimova (Norfolk State) was 3-1 in singles play this past week, including a 4-6, 6-1, 10-6 win over reigning MEAC Player of the Year Jordan Grayson of Howard.
 
Amal Gati (Norfolk State) defeated Coppin State’s Megan Etienne 6-3, 6-2 in No. 2 singles.
 
Adam Kaczmarek (Norfolk State) went 2-2 in singles play and 3-0 at No. 1 doubles for the week, notching singles victories against Howard’s Daniel Dunac and Coppin State’s Isaac Sanders.
 
Federico Rebecchini (Norfolk State) went a combined 3-1 in singles play at both the MEAC Round-Up and in a non-conference match against North Carolina A&T State.
 
Benjamin Niv (South Carolina State) won three singles matches and two doubles matches for the Bulldogs at the MEAC Round-Up.