NORFOLK, Va.,—South Carolina State defeated Bethune-Cookman 4-1 at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center on Saturday to win the 2019 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) women's tennis championship.

The Lady Bulldogs won their first title since 2017 and their 14^th overall.
 
South Carolina State earned the MEAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship, the field for which will be unveiled on NCAA.com on Monday at 6:30 p.m. EST.
 
The match started on a brisk, breezy morning, with South Carolina State squeaking out the doubles point. Karen Romero and Michelle Ncube won the No. 2 doubles match, while Andjela Mihajilovic and Ikram Rassif won the No. 3 match.
 
That left Rehaana Butt/Afrika Smith and Lasya Patnaik/Zainab Bendahhou at No. 1 doubles. B-CU led the match, but Patnaik and Bendahhou fought back to take the tiebreaker before ultimately winning the match 7-6 (7-4) to secure the doubles point.
 
That momentum carried into the No. 5 and singles matches, as Bendahhou defeated Romero 6-3, 6-3 at No. 5 and Jenna Hautem won 6-3, 6-3 over Smith to put South Carolina State up 3-0.
 
Butt gave B-CU a point with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 win over Rassif.
 
Patnaik clinched the match for the Lady Bulldogs when she defeated Phatsimo Ruele 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
 
Bendahhou, who won all three of her singles matches during the tournament, was named the tournament's Outstanding Performer. Hardeep Judge was named Outstanding Coach.
 
 2019 MEAC Women's Tennis All-Tournament Team
Singles
1: Andjela Mihajilovic, South Carolina State
2: Rehaana Butt, Bethune-Cookman
3: Lasya Patnaik, South Carolina State
4: Divya Murali, South Carolina State
5: Zainab Bendahhou, South Carolina State
6: Jenna Hautem, South Carolina State
 
Doubles
1: Zainab Bendahhou/Lasya Patnaik, South Carolina State
2: Aylen Hubeaurt/Haleigh Porter, Florida A&M
3: Andjela Mihajilovic/Ikramm Rassif, South Carolina State
 
Outstanding Performer: Zainab Bendahhou, South Carolina State
Outstanding Coach: Hardeep Judge, South Carolina State