Men's Tennis | 3/19/2025 2:04:00 PM

NORFOLK, Va., Mar. 19, 2025 — North Carolina Central senior Hugo Hidalgo Vega was named the MEAC Men's Tennis Player of the Week, while South Carolina State’s Julius Augunus earned MEAC Rookie of the Week honors.  

Hidalgo Vega (Sr., Madrid, Spain) only dropped one set in an undefeated 4-0 week for North Carolina Central in Orlando, Fla. Hidalgo Vega won all four singles matches as well as three doubles matches with one unfinished. He opened the week with a three-set win over FDU’s Joshua Oboniye (6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3). Against Hampton, he won 6-3, 6-1 over Donte Armbrister followed by victories over Niagara’s Tanner Bedard (6-4, 6-1) and Findlay’s Luigi Bove (6-2, 6-2). The senior has won six singles matches in a row and is 8-3 on the season. In doubles action, Hidalgo Vega and partner Rodrigo Alves won 6-2 over both FDU and Findlay’s No. 1 doubles pairs. Against Niagara, the pair won 7-6 with a 7-2 tiebreak. 

Julius Augunas (Fr., Kaunas, Lithuania) won his singles match against Furman (6-2, 6-2) while his match against George Mason went unfinished (3-6, 3-2). In doubles action, he secured a (6-2) win against George Mason with partner Aissa Benchakroun, before the pai fell to Furman (4-6).  

Other Top Performers 

• Aissa Benchakroun (SCSU)  Benchakroun went 2-0 in singles defeating George Mason (6-2, 4-2) and Furman (6-3, 0-6, 7-6). In doubles, he split his matches, winning against George Mason (6-2) while falling to Furman (4-6).  
• Michael Yon (HU) delivered a strong singles performance for the Bison, going 2-0 with hard-fought victories over Hartford C.C.’s Unai Perez (6-4, 7-5) and Bucknell’s Felix Steindl (4-6, 6-2, 10-2). 
• Kaosie Nwokedi (HU) split his singles matches (1-1), securing a (6-2, 6-3) win over Hartford C.C. while falling short against Bucknell (1-6, 0-6).