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Box Score 2 CARY, N.C., April 28, 2023 – The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) was once again indoors at the Cary Tennis Park on Friday, but the action was as intense as always as the 2023 MEAC Tennis Championships saw the semifinals whittle down to the championship matches.
South Carolina State once again advanced to both the men's and women's finals; the Bulldogs will face Delaware State in the women's final, while the men's final will see S.C. State take on North Carolina Central.
Women: South Carolina State 4, Howard 1
Two-time defending champion South Carolina State was strong out of the gate Friday morning, picking up a win at No. 1 singles from MEAC Player of the Year Sofiya Chursina, who defeated Sifa Butcher 6-1, 6-4. Hind Semlali defeated Jordan Grayson 6-3, 6-4 at No. 3 singles and Nalanda Silva picked up a 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 5 singles over Emnet Simunyola.
The clincher came from Teodora Vujicic's comeback, 7-5, 7-5 victory over Nadia Pegram at No. 4.
Howard's lone point came from Selah Stibbins at No, 2 singles, when she defeated Rachida Berjane 6-2, 6-1.
The doubles point was not contested.
Women: Delaware State 4, North Carolina Central 0
The Hornets needed three sets to put away three of their four singles victories – Kit Yi Kay Au-Yeung won at No. 1 singles, defeating MEAC Rookie of the Year Alejandra Hidalgo Vega 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, while Daria Julia won 6-1, 1-6, 7-6 over Candice Bernier at No. 3.
Klaudija Lisovska's 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 win over Jade Houston at No. 4 singles was the clincher.
Neolani Lui also won her singles match, going 6-3, 6-2 over Kennedy Hill at No. 2 singles.
The doubles point was not contested.
Men: South Carolina State 4, Norfolk State 1
The two-time defending champion Bulldogs will battle for yet another title after Friday's 4-1 win over Norfolk State – a match in which South Carolina State picked up wins at No. 3 and 4 singles after medical retirements. Benjamin Niv defeated Boris Lunin 6-2, 6-4 at No. 5 singles to clinch the set.
Pedro Sasso also won at No. 6 singles, defeating Saadiq Hinton 6-1, 6-0.
Federico Rebecchini, a First Team All-MEAC honoree, scored Norfolk State's lone point after defeating Aissa Benchakroun 7-5, 6-0 at No. 1 singles.
Once again, the doubles point was not contested.
Men: North Carolina Central 4, Morgan State 3
The last semifinal of the afternoon was also the most exciting, as the No. 6 singles match between the Eagles' Facundo Olmedo and the Bears' Bertin Karenzi went to the third-set tiebreaker. Karenzi held the lead in that tiebreaker, but Olmedo used a late push to take the tiebreaker 9-7 and win the match 7-6, 1-6, 7-6 and clinch the overall win.
The second-seeded Eagles also notched singles victories at No. 3 (Kareem Abdul Hakim, 6-1, 7-5 over Rhajzon Rankins), No. 4 (Naresh Bharathy over Sebastian Lopez, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6) and No. 5 (Shaka Cristolletti over Makkijha Brown, 6-7, 7-6, 7-6).
Morgan State saw MEAC Player of the Year Mikael Carpenter win at No. 1 singles, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 over Sebastian Pino, and Niles Rachal at No. 2, 6-3, 6-0 over Oliver Saarinen.
Olmedo's comeback meant the doubles point did not need to be contested.
The women's championship final will begin at 9 a.m., with the men's title match following at 1 p.m. Both matches will stream live on ESPN+.
For more information, please visit the Championship Central page.
About the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is in its 52nd year of intercollegiate competition with the 2022-23 academic school year. Located in Norfolk, Va., the MEAC is made up of eight outstanding historically black institutions across the Atlantic coastline: Coppin State University, Delaware State University, Howard University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Morgan State University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina Central University and South Carolina State University.
