Cary, N.C., April 25, 2024 – The No. 3 Eagles and No. 4 Bison defeated their respective opponents in the opening round of the 2024 MEAC Men's Tennis Championships Tournament to advance to the semifinals on Friday, April 26. Both semifinal matches will begin at approximately 12 p.m. and will air live on ESPN+.
 
No. 3 North Carolina Central 4 – No. 6 Coppin State 0 
N.C. Central defeated Coppin State 4-0 in the battle of the Eagles. NCCU took the early lead claiming the doubles point after the No. 2 and No. 3 teams won their matches. Hugo Hidalgo-Vega/Leo Fortier-Gariepy won 6-4 at No. 2 doubles while Lucas Artigas/Shaka Cristellotti won 6-0 at the No. 3 spot. 

Hidalgo Vega put NCCU ahead 2-0 in the match score after defeating Vansh Kapoor at No. 1 singles 6-0, 6-0, followed by Naresh Mithran who won at No. 4 singles over Liam Murtaugh 6-3, 6-2.
 
With NCCU ahead 3-0, Oliver Saarinen upended Ulugbek Abdurakhmonov at No. 5 singles 6-2, 6-0 to clinch the match and send the Eagles of N.C. Central to the semifinal match. NCCU will face off against No. 2 Norfolk State at 12 p.m. in Cary, N.C. 
 
No. 4 Howard 4 – No. 5 Morgan 2 
No. 4 Howard defeated No. 5 Morgan State in round one of the MEAC Men's Tennis Championships with a final score of 4-2.  Howard advances to the semifinals against No. 1 South Carolina State on Friday, April 26, for a noon start. 
 
Howard took a one-point advantage after claiming a pair of wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. Howard's Marcel Dawson and Kendrick Lash matched up against Rhajzon Rankins and Niles Rachal at No. 2 doubles, resulting a 6-3 victory. In No. 3 doubles, Bison teammates Hassimiyou Dieng and Gabriel Knowles defeated the Bears duo of  Bertin Karenzi and Kondwani Patterson 6-1.
 
In singles action, Dieng matched up against Morgan State's Makkijha Brown at the No. 5 spot. Dieng won the first set 6-3, then won the second set by a tiebreaker 7-5 for a match win and another point for the Bison. 
 
Cadeau also won in a second set tiebreaker at No. 3 singles against Rankins with a score of 6-3, 7-6. 
 
While the Bison lead 3-0, Mikael Carpenter gave Morgan State the first win in the match at No. 1 singles.  Carpenter matched up against Dawson in a 6-4, 6-0 victory.  
 
Morgan State went on to grab another singles victory in the No. 2 spot. Rachal defeated Howard's Michael Major in a three-set match. Rachal won the first set tiebreaker then lost the second set 6-3.  Rachal closed the final set 6-4, to bring the Bears to their second win, trailing by one to Howard (3-2), while match 4 and match 6 were still ongoing.
 
Lash matched up against Karenzi at No. 4 singles. After exchanging 6-3 wins in the first two sets, Lash and Karenzi tied at 5-5 in set three. Karenzi won the next game for a 6-5 advantage, until Lash embarked a two game run to win the third set tiebreaker. Lash won the third set 7-6 to clinch a 4-2 Howard victory over Morgan.
 
Howard will advance to the semifinal round of the 2024 MEAC Tennis tournament, on Friday, April 26^th for a 12 p.m. first serve.