DURHAM, N.C. - For the first time since 2015, both men's and women's tennis teams will represent North Carolina Central University in the 2019 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tennis Championships. The conference championship event will be held Thursday-Saturday, April 25-27, at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center on the campus of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.
 
NCCU's men claimed the second seed out of the Southern Division with a 3-1 record in league play, and will face-off against the Northern Division's third-seeded Howard University on Thursday at 4 p.m. The winner will match up against the winner of Morgan State University (N1) and Florida A&M University (S4) in Friday's semifinals. The championship match will take place on Saturday at 12 p.m.
 
The men's team has faced injuries and sickness throughout the year, something the 2019 MEAC Men's Tennis Coach of the Year D. Curtis Lawson believes has only helped the team. "This season our six active players (Brooks Campbell suffered a season-ending injury during fall practice) have taken turns passing along the flu and dealing with injuries, and this process has made our players stronger and wiser," Lawson explained. "I believe this adversity has truly prepared our men to achieve their personal and team goal of winning the conference championship."
 
NCCU senior Gabriel Cucalon will lead the charge for the men into the MEAC Championships. The Guayaquil, Ecuador, native was named the 2019 MEAC Player of the Year after posting a league-leading 10 singles wins and a perfect 5-0 record in conference play.
 
Filling out the rest of the men's lineup are freshmen Amit Baran, Christos Dagklis, and Thanos Spyropoulos, along with senior Sebastian Bromley and junior Pablo Juez Torres. Spyropoulos and Juez Torres won three of their four conference matchups, with Bromley and Dagklis each adding two wins to that total.
 
NCCU's women earned the Southern Division's three seed with a 3-2 record in division play, and will also face Howard, the Northern Division's second seed, at 11 a.m. on Thursday. The winner will move on to face the victor of South Carolina State University (S1) and Coppin State University (N4) in the semifinals on Friday at 9 a.m. The championship match will be played at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
 
After missing out on the tournament the past two seasons, NCCU women's tennis head coach Tom Schrecengost is confident the team can make some noise this year. "We're a young team that's headed in the right direction," Schrecengost commented. "We've played well as a team this year, and if we can get on the same page as a team in the tournament, we can find success."
 
The women's lineup will be headed by 2019 All-MEAC sophomores Frida Cnossen and Maru Berghaus. After missing 2018 due to injury, Cnossen had a comeback year, with six of her seven match victories coming from the top spot in the lineup. Berghaus led the team in league-play with a 4-1 record in singles out of the two spot in the lineup.
 
Freshmen Hannah Gaines and Ivana Dragovic, along with sophomore Polina Sakharova and junior Sofia Miller round out NCCU's lineup. Dragovic recorded eight wins in her first year, with Gaines, Sakharova and Miller all winning six a piece.
 
"Tournament play is all about who is hot at the right time," said Schrecengost. "We were at our best against Savannah State in late March, everyone clicking on the same cylinders. If we can come into the tournament like we did that match, good things will happen."