Women's Tennis | 4/24/2025 10:57:36 PM

CARY, N.C., April 24, 2025 - Opening day of the 2025 MEAC women’s tennis tournament produced two morning sweeps, and a surprising afternoon upset as No. 2 North Carolina Central, No. 4 Norfolk State and No. 6 Morgan State all advanced to the semifinals on Friday, April 25.  

All semifinal matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+ beginning at 9 A.M. at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C. 

Match 2: No. 2 North Carolina Central def. No. 7 Coppin State (W) | 4-0 

No. 2 N.C. Central got the day off to a hot start with a quick 4-0 sweep of No. 7 Coppin State.  

Action began with doubles taking the court. N.C. Central’s No. 3 pair of Alejandra Hidalgo Vega and Valentina de Aquino Monsanto defeated Coppin State’s pair of Allison Azarak and Abigail Perue 6-1 in a fast 24-minute doubles game. 

Wrapping up just seven minutes later was the No. 2 doubles pair of Mariana Zottoli and Valeria San Miguel Soria who won 6-3 over CSU’s Sky Carter and Kyla Proctor. With the win at No. 2 doubles, N.C. Central won the first team point of the match taking a 1-0 lead into singles. 

The N.C. Central Eagles won singles matches six, one and four to go up 4-0 in the match score and clinch the victory.  

Gabriela Mejia Arenas got business done quickly winning 6-0, 6-1 over Azarak putting the match score at 2-0.  

Hidalgo Vega defeated Brandy Babcock-Hannah 6-3, 6-0 to put N.C. Central up 3-0 before Patricia Palencia downed Proctor 6-3, 6-0 to clinch the match for the second seeded Eagles.  

N.C. Central advances to the semifinals tomorrow morning and will face No. 6 Morgan State at 9 A.M. 

Match 1: No. 4 Norfolk State def. No. 5 Delaware State (W) | 4-0 

The second match of the morning also ending in a quick 4-0 decision as the No. 4 seeded Spartans defeated the No. 5 Hornets of Delaware State.  

In doubles action, DSU’s Kit Yi Kaye Au-Yeung and Lucia Casas Blas won the No. 1 pair defeating NSU’s Irina Iurea and Angelina Maniawska 6-0, but Norfolk State rallied taking the doubles No. 2 and No. 3 matches 6-2 and 6-4 respectively to win the doubles point and go up 1-0 in the team score.  

The Spartans wasted no time in the singles games winning singles No. 1, No. 3, and No. 5 to secure the 4-0 win in the match.  

Sabina Iurea defeated Brooklyn Bowen 6-0, 6-1 at No. 5 as the first singles match to conclude. Caroline Nicholls won 6-3, 6-2 over Victoria Linkovski in the No. 3 spot followed by Sofiya Tsitavets at the No. 1 spot who won 6-1, 7-5 over Kit Yi Kaye Au-Yeung. 

Yulia Yurkova led 6-4, 4-3 at singles No. 2 against Casas Blas, while Delaware State’s Camilla Mitolo led 6-2, 5-4 at No. 4 and Eva Golembiovski was leading 6-4, 4-2 at No. 6. 

Norfolk State advances to the semifinal round to face the top-seeded Bulldogs of South Carolina State at 9 A.M.

Match 3: No. 6 Morgan State def. No. 3 Howard (W) | 4-2 

The 3/6 match between Howard and Morgan State proved to be a thriller as the No. 6 Bears led the No. 3 Bison throughout the match.  

Morgan State took an early lead after the doubles matches winning at No. 1 and No. 3. Lauryn Hall and Hannah Smith toppled Howard’s Nadia Pegram and Imani Jean 7-5, while teammates Marta Serra Carles and Aleksandra Evdokimova defeated Dana Hall and Selah Stibbins 6-2. 

The singles matches were much more competitive as the Bison picked up two match points before the Bears closed things out with three points of their own to win 4-2.  

Morgan State’s Tyler Williams won 6-3, 6-1 over Howard’s Stibbins before Imani Jean got the Bison their first point with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Evdokimova.  

The Bears added another point to their tally with a 6-3, 6-4 win by Julia Jeffery over Jordan Grayson at No. 3 singles. Nadia Pergram scored the second Howard point after defeating Hannah Smith 7-6 [7-3], 6-3, putting the match score at 3-2 with Morgan State leading.  

With the two remaining matches in their third set, Morgan State’s Marta Serra Carles upended Ava Chambers 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 to clinch the match 4-2 for MSU.  

No. 6 Morgan State advances to the semifinals to face No. 2 North Carolina Central at 9 A.M. 

For additional information, including brackets, team info, and live scoring, please visit the Tennis Championship Central page at MEACSports.com.