DURHAM, N.C. – The North Carolina Central University men's and women's tennis teams host the 2024 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tennis Championships on April 25-27 at the Cary Tennis Park. The Eagles have earned the third seed in the bracket.
NCCU (7-14, 3-2 MEAC) returns to Cary, N.C. with the same seeding and opponents as last year's quarterfinal. The maroon and gray roster will compete against No.6 Coppin State University on Thursday, April 25 at 2 p.m. The Eagles blanked Coppin State at the MEAC Round-Up in a 7-0 victory on March 22.
Junior Hugo Hidalgo Vega makes his first appearance in the postseason for the Eagles with an undefeated record at No.1 Singles against MEAC competition. He also has an active 12-match winning streak in singles since late February. Hidalgo Vega is 15-3 this season in singles.
Team captain Oliver Saarinen and sophomore Naresh Bharathy are both .500 on the season in singles. Saarinen is 7-7 this season including a 3-1 record in the MEAC. Bharathy went 10-10 in the regular season in singles.
Most of the season sophomore Kareem Abdul Hakim has been partnered with Saarinen in No.1 Doubles. The duo picked up conference wins against South Carolina State and Howard. Abdul Hakim's last conference victory in singles was over Norfolk State in early April.
Redshirt freshman Lucas Artigas started conference competition winning three straight singles matches at the MEAC Round-Up, including a 6-3, 6-2 triumph in the opener over Coppin State. Freshman Leo Fortier-Gariepy also defeated CSU in his singles match earlier this season and won another conference contest against Morgan State.
Sophomore Neiman Sneed's only conference singles match was a victory over the CSU Eagles 7-6, 6-2. He's also won twice in doubles with Bharathy in league play.
Shaka Cristellotti will play at the MEAC Tennis Championships for the final time as graduation approaches. The senior is coming off a 6-4, 6-3 win against Shaw University in the final regular season match.
The winner of the match between NCCU and CSU goes on to play No.2 Norfolk State on Friday, April 26 at noon. The semifinals and finals matches will be streamed on ESPN+ for subscribers.
For more information on NCCU Athletics, visit NCCUEaglePride.com, or download the NCCU Eagles Athletics app.
