CARY, N.C. – After pulling off a minor upset in the quarterfinals, the fifth-seeded North Carolina Central University women's tennis team was unable to pull off a much bigger upset in the semifinals of the 2022 MEAC Tennis Championships hosted by NCCU at the Cary Tennis Park on Friday morning as the Eagles fell 4-0 to regular season champions Howard University.
The Bison, who went a perfect 6-0 in league play during the regular season, only needed to secure one doubles victory and one singles triumph on the day to advance to the title match as NCCU (5-16) was playing with just four active players. Howard (10-4 Overall) will play in the title contest on Saturday at 9 a.m. against third-seeded South Carolina State University.
Freshman No. 1
Kennedy Hill and freshman No.3
Isabelle Exsted highlighted play for the Eagles with first set wins in their respective unfinished matches. Hill, who was named Second Team All-MEAC earlier in the week, finished with a team-best 10 singles wins on the campaign.
Howard picked up the doubles point with a 6-3 win on court one by the freshmen duo of Jordan Grayson and Sifa Butcher.
Butcher then advanced the Bison in the championship match with a 6-0, 6-1 conquest at No. 2 singles.
NC Central ended its season with its second appearance in the league semifinals for the second time in the past three MEAC tourneys.
