SCSU Men's Tennis Claims 2016 MEAC Title

NORFOLK, Virginia --  The South Carolina State Bulldogs made it a clean sweep on Saturday as the men's tennis team captured the 2016 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Men's Championship with a 4-0 victory over Florida A&M University at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center on the campus of Old Dominion University.

Earlier in the day South Carolina State's women's team won the championship also with a 4-0 sweep of Florida A&M.

"We've battled so many injuries this year," South Carolina State Head Coach Hardeep Judge said. "Everybody stepped up all year long. We played FAMU and it was a tough match in Tallahasse earlier in the year. We worked on a lot of things we needed to work on and I think that was the difference."

In doubles, the Bulldogs took victories at the top two lines to take the team point.   At number one, Jakub Vitek and Martin Figura defeated C. Agustin Waitman and Walner Espinoza 7-6 (7-5).  The number two line saw Vladyslav Yanchenko and Salih Gilmutdinovtook a 6-3 win over Courage Okungbowa and Illya Skoromnyy.  

South Carolina State scored wins at numbers one, two and five singles to finish off the sweep.  Yanchenko defeated Karlyn Small 6-3, 6-0 at number two and Aleksander Stuparknocked off Jalen Evans 6-4, 6-2 at number five.  Figura scored a 6-2, 6-1 win over Okungbowa at the top line for the clinching point.

The championship for the Bulldogs was the eighth in a row, 11^th in the last 12 completed tournaments and 14^thoverall.

With the win, South Carolina State (12-8) earned the conference's automatic qualification to the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships.  The NCAA selection show will air on May 3 at 5:30 p.m. online at www.ncaa.com.

For more information about men's tennis, please visit www.meacsports.com.


Men's All-Tournament
Outstanding Performer: Jakub Vitek, South Carolina State
Outstanding Coach: Hardeep Judge, South Carolina State

Doubles

#3	Alvaro Barrera/Pablo Lopez	Bethune-Cookman
#2	Salih Gilmutdinov/Vladyslav Yanchenko	South Carolina State
#1	Martin Figura/Jakub Vitek	South Carolina State

Singles

#6	Illya Skoromnyy	Florida A&M
#5	Alexander Stupar	South Carolina State
#4	Evan Ward	Morgan State
#3	Jakub Vitek	South Carolina State
#2	Vladyslav Yanchenko	South Carolina State
#1	Courage Okungbowa	Florida A&M

COURTESY SOUTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS