Courtesy of NCCU Sports Information

Men's Tennis

MEAC Announces Weekly Tennis Honors, presented by Coca-Cola

NORFOLK, Va., Feb. 23, 2024 — North Carolina Central junior Hugo Hildalgo Vega was named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Men’s Tennis Player of the Week, while Howard freshman Michael Major, Jr., earned Rookie of the Week honors, presented by Coca-Cola. Howard junior Nadia Pegram was named Women’s Tennis Player of the Week, while Bison teammate Imani Jean earned Rookie of the Week honors.  

Vega (Jr., Madrid, Spain) helped the Eagles go 1-1 with a win over Johnson C. Smith and a close 4-3 loss to Queens University. Vega won 6-3, 6-2 at singles No. 1 over Queens’ Laurenz Blickwede and claimed a 6-3 win with teammate Leo Fortier at doubles No. 2. Against the Golden Bulls of Johnson C. Smith, Vega and Fortier won 6-2 at doubles No. 1 while Vega won by default at singles No. 6.  

Michael Major, Jr. (Fr. Nassau, Bahamas) picked up a 6-3, 7-5 win at singles No. 2 against the University of the District of Columbia’s Antonio Durall. Major also won his doubles match 6-4 with partner Justin Cadeau over the UDC duo of Durall/Corty. 
   
Pegram (Jr., Naples, Fla.) went 2-0 in singles action while going 1-1 in doubles play as the Bison picked up a 6-1 win over the University of the District of Columbia and fell 4-2 to Villanova.  In singles action, Pegram won 6-1, 6-2 while playing at No. 3 and went 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 4 spot. Pegram and Jean defeated UDC’s No. 1 duo 6-3 while falling by the same score to Villanova's No. 1 duo. 

Jean (Fr., Brooklyn, N.Y.) was 1-0 in her singles flight while splitting the results at doubles going 1-1 with teammate Nadia Pegram. Jean won 6-3, 6-1 against Bastin from UDC at the No. 5 singles bout. Her match at No. 6 singles against Villanova’s Monti went unfinished after she won the first set 6-4. Jean and Pegram defeated UDC’s No. 1 duo 6-3 while falling by the same score to Villanova's No. 1 duo.  

Other Top Performers  

  • Vladisav Gorbatenko (Norfolk State) collected a 1-0 record for the week in both singles and doubles actions as the Spartans defeated Christopher Newport University 6-1. 
  • Deniz Okyay (Norfolk State) collected a 1-0 record for the week in both singles and doubles actions as the Spartans defeated Christopher Newport University 6-1. 
  • Marcel Dawson (Howard) collected a 1-0 record for the week in both singles and doubles actions as the Bison defeated the University of the District of Columbia 7-0.