CARY, N.C. – The North Carolina Central University men's tennis team finished as the runners-up of the 2024 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tennis Championships falling 4-0 to one-seeded South Carolina State University in the final match at the Cary Tennis Park.
No.3 NC Central fell behind heading into singles competition after South Carolina State won No.2 and No.3 Doubles for a 1-0 advantage.
With the lead, SCSU would go on to win three singles matches to clinch the title.
Freshman Leo Fortier-Gariepy fell 7-6, 6-3 in No.3 Singles. Sophomore Neiman Sneed dropped a pair of 6-1 sets in No.6 Singles. The Bulldogs then clinched match point with a win in No.5 Singles over junior Oliver Saarinen with two 7-5 sets.
Naresh Baharathy's (No.4 Singles), Kareem Abdul Hakim's (No.2 Singles) and Hugo Hidalgo Vega's (No.1 Singles) matches went unfinished.
During the post-match awards ceremony, four Eagles were named to the 2024 MEAC All-Tournament Team. Saarinen and Abdul Hakim were selected for the No.1 Doubles Team. Bharathy earned the No.4 Singles honor and Abdul Hakim won a second honor for No.2 Singles. Hidalgo Vega garnered the No.1 Singles All-Tournament Team recognition.
NCCU finishes the season with a 9-15 record winning one more match than last year's team.
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