ORANGEBURG, SC—South Carolina State men's and women's tennis team hosted nationally ranked Division II Francis Marion Saturday at SCSU Tennis Courts in a non-conference match.

The Bulldogs (11-10) defeated the #13 ranked Patriots (9-5) 6-1, while the Lady Bulldogs (12-5) fell short 2-5 to the #13 Lady Patriots (14-3) of Francis Marion.

On the men's side it was Radek Pivonka def. Osha Wijemanne (6-4, 6-3), Peter Vinogradovs def. Dirk Bair (4-6, 6-4, 6-3), Dmytro Kovaleych def. Alex Casper (6-4, 3-6, 7-5), Alexander Malko def. Karl Rogers (6-3, 6-0) and David Grund def. Tanguy Montoisy (6-2, 3-6,1-0) all  winners in single matches.

SC State men won the doubles with Pivonka/Meana def. Rogers/Sharifi (8-6)  and Vinogradovs/Grund def. Caspari/Montoisy (8-4).

In women's action Amy Chen I-Chun def. Kerry Hall (6-3, 6-0) and Iveta Blodniece def. Karine Augur (6-0, 6-0) in singles play.

SC State closes out the regular season before heading to the MEAC Tennis Championships next week in Raleigh, NC. The Lady Bulldogs enter the tourney as the top-seed in the Southern Division, while the Bulldogs are ranked #2 behind FAMU.

The MEAC Tennis Championships begin on Friday, April 16 at 8:30 a.m. Tennis action continues on Saturday with semifinal play beginning 8:30 a.m. for the women and noon for the men. The championships will conclude on Sunday, April 18 beginning at 9 a.m. with the women's championship final. The men's championship final will follow at 11:30 a.m. The event is free and open to the public.

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