ROME, Ga. – Senior Hugo Hidalgo Vega and sophomore Rodrigo Alves of the North Carolina Central University men's tennis team represented the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference at the first-ever Intercollegiate Tennis Association Conference Master Championships on Nov. 7-10 at the Rome Tennis Center. The duo played different doubles teams from conferences all over the country for a chance to qualify for a spot in the NCAA Doubles Championship.

The doubles team opened competition against Mohammad Alkotop and David Martirosian of Utah State University on Thursday, Nov. 7. Alves and Hidalgo Vega dropped the first set 6-3 but would bounce back with a 6-3 win in the second set. In a tiebreaker, the Eagle pair would fall 10-0.

Moving on to the consolation draw, Hidalgo Vega and Alves faced Tyler Nguyen and Mathis Tremblay of Saint Francis University (Pa.) on Friday, Nov. 8. The Eagles bounced back for their first victory of the championships winning 6-3, 6-1.

Next up in the quarterfinals was Tristan Sarap and William Zulch of Weber State University. Alves and Hidalgo Vega fell in the first set 6-4 but tied the match after winning 6-4 in the second set. A 10-5 tiebreaker determined an NCCU victory.

In the semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 9, Alves and Hidalgo Vega defeated Jacksonville State University's Alin Fatu and Marko Milosavljevic 7-5, 7-6 with a 7-4 tiebreaker win in the second set advancing to the finals of the consolation bracket.

In the last match of the championships for NCCU, Hidalgo Vega and Alves played Taj Hibbert and Rohan Loubser of Tennessee State University. TSU triumphed 6-1, 6-4 over the Eagles with NCCU finishing as the runners-up of the consolation draw at the ITA Conference Masters.

The men's team will now gear up for the spring with the completion of its fall schedule.

For more information on NCCU Athletics, visit NCCUEaglePride.com, or download the NCCU Eagles Athletics app.