| |
S.C. State Men take second straight MEAC
Tennis Title
April 24, 2005
ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – South Carolina State, the number one seed, defeated
number two Florida A&M, 4-1 in the title match of the Mid-Eastern Athletic
Conference Men’s Tennis Championship finals at the Sanlando Tennis Center.
The match, postponed on Saturday due to rain, was a rematch of last year’s
final also won by S.C. State.
The Bulldogs’ Andrew Mawire was named Outstanding Performer winning the
fourth and deciding match to seal the victory for S.C. State. The win was the
second straight title for S.C. State and the fifth overall.
“Andrew Mawire got us a big win at number one. He really stepped it up
today,” head coach Hardeep Judge . “It’s much sweeter winning
this year because it was supposed to be a rebuilding year for us after losing
three seniors last year. This team is young and it feels good to win both the
men and women’s
championship.”
Florida A&M led in all three doubles (3-1, 3-1, and 3-2) matches before play
halted at approximately 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. S.C. State came back in
the #2 doubles match (8-3) and the #3 doubles match (8-6) to win the point.
“The rain helped calm our players down,” said Judge. “We
were losing in all three matches, but the players came back today to fight back
and win the point.”
The Bulldogs put more pressure on Florida A&M winning the number five singles
and the number two singles matches taking a commanding 3-0 lead. Parantap Chaturvedi
defeated Vassil Zahariev in straight sets (6-3, 6-3) at number five, while Jiri
Vasicek defeated Zurab Zhvania (7-5, 7-6 (7-5)) also in straight sets at the
number two spot.
“We beat them 4-2 in the regular season and they played very well in singles,” said
Judge. “We won a couple matches early, but there were three matches still
in the third set that could have gone either their way.
Jarrel Williams of Florida A&M kept the Rattlers alive winning the #6 singles
match over S.C. State’s Hrvaje Capin in a three set affair (6-2, 4-6, 6-4).
Mawire led 4-1 in the third set of the number one singles match before FAMU’s
Pfungwa Mahefu called for a trainer. After about a 10 minute break in action,
Mahefu was able to continue to play. Both players held serve the next two sets,
and then Mawire fought off four break points before sealing the championship
on his first match point.
“We’re a young team, we fought hard and worked hard all season long,” said
Rattlers Head Coach Carl Goodman. “South Carolina State is a very talented
team and deserved to win.”
Coach Judge was named the 2005 Outstanding Coach of the men’s championship.
He received the same award yesterday after the women’s team defeated Hampton
in the finals to capture the first title in 19 years.
DOUBLES
1. MAHEFU,Pfungwa/ZHVANIA,Zurab (FAMU) def. MAWIRE,Andrew/HURDUC,Ionut (SCSU)
8-2
2. VASICEK,Jiri/CHATURVEDI,Parantap (SCSU) def. WILLIAMS,Jarrel/ZAHARIEV,Vassil
(FAMU) 8-3
3. CAPIN,Hrvoje/BISERCIC,Dragen (SCSU) def. GREEN,Frank/MALIVERT,Clifford (FAMU)
8-6
SINGLES
1. MAWIRE,Andrew (SCSU) def. MAHEFU,Pfungwa (FAMU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
2. VASICEK,Jiri (SCSU) def. ZHVANIA,Zurab (FAMU) 7-5, 7-6 (7-5)
3. BISERCIC,Dragen (SCSU) vs. GREEN,Frank (FAMU) 6-2, 3-6, unfinished
4. HURDUC,Ionut (SCSU) vs. MALIVERT,Clifford (FAMU) 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, unfinished
5. CHATURVEDI,Parantap (SCSU) def. ZAHARIEV,Vassil (FAMU) 6-3, 6-3
6. WILLIAMS,Jarrel (FAMU) def. CAPIN,Hrvoje (SCSU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
|
