Kante Can Take FAMU to the Next Level

Senegal, West Africa native a former JUCO No. 1

Tallahassee, FL - Salif Kante grew up immersed in the game of tennis. His dad taught him the game in his native Senegal and when he was named the top junior college player in the country last year, it wasn't much of a surprise. Now, Kante is trying to put FAMU on the national map.

"That's why I came here. To win the title," Kante said with a chuckle. A couple of weeks ago, Kante won the single title at the Florida State University Invitational.

"If I go to a tournament I'm just gonna play my game," he said. "I don't care who plays. I'm just gonna play."



That's how he was taught thousands of miles away with the rest of his siblings. His older brother and younger sister were mentored by their father, who is a coach and owns a tennis club back in West Africa.

When Kante was finishing high school, he wanted ...

READ MORE

Seven Members of the Howard Tennis Team Achieve National ITA Scholar-Athlete Award Status

Alyssa Works

Washington, D.C. - Five women and two men qualified for Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s 2011 National ITA Scholar-Athlete’s Award. The award is given annually tennis student-athletes who are varsity letter winners, have a grade point average of 3.5 or above (on a 4.0 scale) for the current academic year, and have been enrolled at their present school for at least 2 semesters.

"I'm just tremendously proud of their success as both students and atheltes," commented head coach Lawrence Strickland. "It is indicative of the way these young men and women perform all of their tasks."

Anne Akhimien

The women are lead by senior Health Science major, Alyssa Works with a 4.0. Other women’s team award winners include Anne Akhimien a junior Human Nutrition major with a 3.87, Michelle Brown a junior Biology major with a 3.85, Brooke Hawthorne a freshman Marketing major with a 3.65 and Amber Cuff a senior Fashion Merchandising major with a 3.59. The two men receiving the award are Christopher Brown a senior Radio-TV and Film major with a 3.61 and freshman Timothy Staton-Davis a Systems and Computer Science major with a 3.76.

Michelle Brown

The eight member woman’s team achieved the 2011 ITA All-Academic Team award given to a team that records (1) a grade point average of 3.2 or above on a 4.0 scale (2)all NCAA eligible student –athletes who are letter winners GPA’s for the current year must be averaged. The team had GPA average of 3.48. This is first time in ten years the women have received the award. The seven men and women bring the total to sixty-two National ITA Scholar-Athlete awards since 1998.




by Jamilah Corbett, Assistant Director of Sports Information
VISIT: HOWARD UNIVERSITY
VISIT: HOWARD-BISON

NCCU Sibling standouts share bond

One minute with Trey and Cameron Chatman, and you immediately sense a special bond between the brother and sister.

Although they have different personalities - Cameron is reserved and laid back, while Trey has the bright grin and fiery spirit - both seemed as one as they discussed their relationship during our interview last Thursday. That bond extends onto the tennis courts at N.C. Central as well.

Cameron just finished her junior season on the women's team as the No. 2 singles players (16-4) and part of the No. 1 doubles team (12-8). Trey, a senior, accomplished his personal goal of 10 single wins. They both helped lead their teams to their best seasons since NCCU reclassified to Division I.



READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.
VISIT: NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY
VISIT: NCCUEAGLEPRIDE

NSU Men's and Women's Tennis Highlights vs. Delaware

VISIT: NSUSPARTANS

S.C. State's Judge earns 300th victory

South Carolina State men's and women's tennis coach reached a milestone in Bulldog history Saturday, March 19 when the S.C. State women downed N.C. A&T (7-0).

Judge, was already the winningest tennis coach in S.C. State history, earned his 300th career win with the triumph.

"When I started coaching I never thought I would reach such a milestone so early on in my career," said Judge. "It's a great feeling and I am really happy for our program and where we are headed."

READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.

VISIT: SCSU Athletics

13 Year Old Donates Life Savings to S.C. State University

Orangeburg, SC -- A 13-year-old girl gave her life savings to South Carolina State University in hopes that more students could receive an education.

From many angles, Katarina Judge is like any other kid enjoying summer break. She swims, plays tennis, and helps to look after her younger brother and sister.

"I am still a 13-year-old; I still do 13-year-old things. I like Justin Bieber a lot," she said. She is also making moves to help others. She donated $585, her entire life savings, to South Carolina State University for scholarships.



"If you don't have an education, you can't get a job, and if you can't get a job, you're not going to be successful," she said.

Her father, Hardeep Judge, is the tennis coach at the school.

"It didn't surprise me, because Katarina has always done stuff like that, even when she was a small child. If she got too many Christmas presents, she would give some away," he said.

READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.

FAMU Rattlers sign five-star tennis prospect

Clark, a Sophomore Business Administration Major was named to the Peach Belt Conference All-Academic team.

Levan Clark had all of the accolades that come with being a five-star tennis player when he was recruited by Florida A&M two years ago. He was ranked No. 10 among all Florida players and No. 65 in the nation among high school recruits. Qualifying to enroll at FAMU was another issue, and as a result Clark spent three semesters at Lander University, a Division II school in Greenwood, S.C.

But a day after signing to transfer to FAMU, Clark said Tuesday it all turned out for the better. "I'm more experienced now," said Clark, a left-hander out of Orlando Olympia High School. "I feel I can contribute a lot to make the team better. "I feel like the more experience we have the better off we're going to be. I feel with my experience in a tight situation I will stay calm and come through to win the match."

He did a lot of that for Lander this past season. In singles matches he went 14-5 and had an identical record in doubles. He was 6-3 in Peach Belt Conference matches.

READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.

NCCU Student-Athlete Plays Piano Too

DURHAM, N.C. -- Stephen Allsop, just having completed a match for the N.C. Central University tennis team, made a quick stop at the James E. Shepard Library on campus before racing off to study for his final in epistemology. Allsop, who will graduate summa cum laude from the university this week, is almost always busy, racing off somewhere. But he's comfortable handling multiple responsibilities. "The key is being able to prioritize," he said. "You have to determine what needs to be done and what needs to be done first."

Senior tennis athlete Stephen Allsop, from Beltsville, Maryland's High Point H.S. is the first student-athlete in the history of North Carolina Central University to be accepted into Harvard Medical School's M.D./Ph.D program. The undergraduate turned down offers from the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University to attend NCCU.

Doing that has made Allsop the first student-athlete in the history of NCCU to be accepted into Harvard Medical School's M.D./Ph.D program. A biology major who has minored in jazz piano and chemistry, Allsop already has a resume of awards and honors that would be the envy of those three times his age. A year ago he was one of just 278 college students across the nation to win the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. He has been a Chancellor's scholar and a National Achievement Scholar, an undergraduate research fellow and the president of the NCCU chapter of the Golden Key Honor Society.

"His thirst for knowledge separates him from many students I've come across," said Antonio Baines, a biology professor at NCCU in whose lab Allsop has worked. "His curiosity and inquisitiveness are very impressive. He's just genuinely curious. He wants to know the answer." And in addition to being very bright, Baines said, "Allsop works hard as well."

READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.

SCSU tennis teams hope for happier ending at Chapel Hill

The postseason plans for the South Carolina State tennis teams might as well been scripted by a wedding planner - something old, something new and something (powder) blue.

On Thursday, the men’s and women’s teams learned their reward for winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles was another trip down Tobacco Road to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. For the second time in three years, the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs will face the University of North Carolina on its homecourt at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center next weekend.

The SCSU women (13-3), will face the 15th-seed Lady Tar Heels (17-8) on May 9 starting at 10 a.m. The following day, the SCSU men (18-3) will face 12th-seed UNC (19-5) at the same time.

CONTINUE READING, CLICK BLOG TITLE.

Florida A&M Cruise Past WSSU Men's Tennis

Rams fall to Florida A&M in next-to-last match of the 2008 season.

WINSTON-SALEM, NC - The Winston-Salem State University men's tennis team fell in defeat to the Florida A&M University Rattlers on Saturday afternoon in Tallahassee, Florida by the score of 7-0 as WSSU dropped their ninth consecutive match to drop to 1-22 overall on the season.

The Rattlers swept all six singles matches, two by 6-0, 6-0 sweeps and then earned the doubles point with a pair of 8-0 victories at first and third doubles and an 8-1 victory at second doubles.

CONTINUE READING, CLICK BLOG TITLE.

FAMU Rattlers remain undefeated in MEAC

Photo: Dr. Carl B. Gooman is in his 11th season as the FAMU Men's Tennis Coach and has guided the Rattlers to eight MEAC championships.

Men's tennis able to take care of B-CU.

Paul Paige didn't need a lot of motivation, although he was playing the No. 6 spot for FAMU's men's tennis team. Just playing Bethune-Cookman University was enough motivation Friday afternoon.

He fought off a couple of service breaks to put down Kristofer Martin 6-2, 6-3 to help secure a 6-1 victory over the Wildcats. FAMU, 9-10 overall, remains the only undefeated team in the Southern Division of the MEAC standings with its third straight conference win.

CONTINUE READING, CLICK BLOG TITLE.

FAMU Rattlers Tennis edges SCSU, 4-3

Photo: Artiom Podgainii, senior, 6-1/155, Secondary School No. 71, Chisinau, Maldova.

Win gives Florida A&M top spot in MEAC South Division

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Florida A&M Men's Tennis team won some hard-fought bouts in singles to edge past Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference rival South Carolina State, 4-3 at the FAMU Tennis Courts Saturday afternoon.

FAMU's Artiom Podgainii defeated SCSU's Ivan Milivojevic, 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 at #1, while Michael Moore went three sets with David Grund at #5, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Senior Clifford Malivert was a straight set winner over SCSU's Dmitry Lomakin, 6-2, 6-3 at #2 singles.

CONTINUE READING, CLICK BLOG TITLE.

S.C. State downs Jacksonville State in Tennis

The South Carolina State men's and women's team earned a sweep over Jacksonville State Tuesday with the men winning 5-2 and the women earning a 6-1 victory at the SCSU Tennis Facility.

The Bulldogs improved to 10-1 with their victory, while the Lady Bulldogs climbed to 6-1 on the year.

The S.C. State women return to action Friday when they host North Carolina A&T at 2 p.m. The men's and women's team will take on Norfolk State at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

CONTINUE READING, CLICK ON BLOG TITLE.

SCSU tennis teams keep rolling

The SC State men's and women's teams continued its winning ways with the Bulldogs posting a 2-0 record, while The Lady Bulldogs went 3-0 in tennis action this past weekend. Coach Hardeep Judge's men's team defeated Bethune-Cookman (7-0) and Winston-Salem State (7-0) on Saturday, while the Lady Bulldogs posted wins over Savannah State (4-1), Winston-Salem State (7-0) and Bethune-Cookman (6-1).

With the wins both SC State men's and women's team improve to 5-1 overall, 3-0 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

CONTINUE READING THIS ARTICLE BY CLICKING ON THE BLOG TITLE.

MEAC Commissioner: No Expansion At This Time

The commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference confirmed Monday that the league is not looking to expand at this time, a crucial situation for N.C. Central as it looks to move to find conference affiliation in Division I.

N.C. Central has left the CIAA, and Bill Hayes said in August that he hoped to hear something from the MEAC by December. The MEAC, which includes North Carolina A&T and is adding Winston-Salem State, would be a natural fit for the Eagles.

But MEAC Commissioner Dennis Thomas indicated Monday that his conference is not looking to add members.

“This past March of ’07 the conference decided to put a moratorium on expansion at this time,” Thomas said. “There is no timetable to it.”

The MEAC has 12 members, and 10 that play football. North Carolina A&T athletics director Dee Todd said expanding could make scheduling difficult, so the league wants to take a long look at any additions.

NCCU, however, could be appealing if the MEAC decides to grow. Thomas praised its academic and athletic reputation, and the Eagles are generally strong in men’s basketball and football. The addition of the Eagles would be a boost to the MEAC if the league basketball tournament remains in Raleigh.

The returns to the RBC Center for the third time this fall. Attendance has been low, and Thomas said the league is hoping to improve that.

“We’re pleased but not satisfied. We’re working assiduously to increase tournament attendance and make it more fan friendly.”

Thomas said the league expects to decide to award a three-year contract for the 2009-2011 tournaments by March.