SOUTH FULTON, Ga. – NCCU men's and women's tennis competed in their first fall event this past weekend, bringing some hardware back to Durham, N.C. The women's team was crowned HBCU National Tennis Champions on Saturday evening at the tournament bearing the same name.
The 22
nd Annual HBCU National Tennis Championships took place on Sept. 14-17 at the South Fulton Tennis Center and included both singles and doubles flights. Each match was a chance for players to earn points for their respective teams ranging from one to 25 points. The team with the highest total was awarded the HBCU National Tennis Championship.
NCCU women's tennis finished with 108 points, which was 15 points ahead of Florida A&M to earn the team victory. NCCU men's tennis finished with 52 points, rounding out the top five.
All eight Lady Eagles soared to the quarterfinals after round of 36 and round of 16 performances. Unfortunately, due to inclement weather, all women's singles flights were halted before the quarterfinal stage could begin. Similar weather issues stopped play in the men's singles flights, but not before
Hugo Hidalgo Vega would reach the quarterfinals in men's singles Flight A.
Four doubles teams advanced to the semifinals before falling. For men's tennis,
Hugo Hidalgo Vega and
Kareem Abdul Hakim battled in Doubles Flight A. On the women's team, the duo of
Candice Bernier and
Kennedy Hill competed in Doubles Flight A, while the pair of
Patricia Palencia and
Alejandra Hidalgo Vega, as well as the team of
Isabelle Exsted and
Maria Picazo Martin in Doubles Flight B.
Women's tennis looks to continue their winning ways as they travel on Sept. 22-24 to the Elon Fall Invitational. The NCCU men's tennis team will also be competing this coming weekend. They will take part in the Tom Chewning Fall Invitational hosted by the University of North Carolina.
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