Braves – Lady Braves Excel at SWAC Conference Tennis Tournament
SWAC Conference Tournament – Jackson, Ms.
The Braves and Lady Braves turn in strong performances in the first conference tournament of the 2012 spring tennis season with an undefeated result for both the men's and women's tennis teams. The men and women started with Mississippi State Valley University and did not lose a single game in either match and then faced a talented team from University of Arkansas – Pine Bluff. The Braves got solid results in both doubles and singles losing only one match at #5 singles in which Garry Amor lost to UAPB's Nicholas Plaza by a score of 2-6, 4-6. Amor teamed with
Vitali Vasileuski at #2 doubles to help win the doubles point over UAPB's Jorge Villas and Nicholas Plaza by and 8-5 margin and as a result the entire Alcorn Braves team contributed to the final score of
6-1.
The Braves then played University of Alabama A&M on Saturday morning and continued to show that they are ready to compete for another SWAC Conference Championship by beating a solid AA&M with another score of 6-1. The Braves had a great performance at #1 doubles to clinch the doubles point with an 8-6 score over a very talented team of Desta Sandy and Dominque Alexander.
The Alcorn Braves had very good play from all positions with undefeated play from Alexandr Lidzar and Max TKenchenko, at #3 doubles and strong performances from
Ernesto Santillan and Winfried Weinbeer at #1 doubles.
The Braves received high praise from SWAC Officials, players, and coaches for the outstanding play and sportsmanship demonstrated by the four newcomers
Ernesto Santillan,
Vitali Vasileuski, Garry Amor, and Max TKenchenko. It is obvious that they, along with returners Alexandr Lidzar and Winfried Weinbeer, will be contenders for another SWAC Championship in 2012.
The Lady Braves also turned a 6-1 score with UAPB losing only one point at #3 singles. The Lady Braves dominated both singles and doubles against a solid UAPB Lady Lions Tennis Team. It is apparent that the doubles teams of #1
Kersten Vanem/Viktoriya Kozachuk, #2
Chan Rutherford/Daria Rud, and #3
Arielle Buchmann/Keti MeBuke have improved their playing style to a controlled level looking to be aggressive at the net at every chance they got. All three teams picked up solid wins to pick up the opening point at doubles.
Saturday the Lady Braves began the day against a very tough Lady Bulldog Team from Alabama A&M. The doubles began at an even pace until
Arielle Buchmann and Keti MeBuke picked up the first win against Denise Cherry and Kara Kennemore of AA&M at #3 doubles by a score of 8-3.
Chan Rutherford and Daria Rud finished the next match and clinched the doubles point by edging Jasmine Cherry and Jessica Taylor at #2 doubles by a score of 8-6.
Kersten Vanem and Viktoriya Kozachuk were in a heated battle with Morgan Shaw and Shannon Warner at #1 doubles but could not pull out the win and lost in a tiebreak 7-5 to give the win to AA&M by a score of 8-7.
The Lady Braes came back out in singles and put together their strongest singles performance of the year by winning every match except the #3 singles position. Newcomers Keti MeBuke - #2 singles, and Viktoriya Kozachuk - #4 singles, showed that they can win against very talented players at the Division 1 level and pulled off straight set victories against AA&M's Denise Cherry and Jasmine Cherry.
Kersten Vanem also had a dominate match at #1 singles by a margin of 6-3 and 6-0 against one of the conference's best players - AA&M's Morgan Shaw.
The next match would be with SWAC Conference defending champions from Southern Baton Rouge's Lady Jaguars. The Lady Braves were anxious to play after losing the 2011 SWAC Conference Championships to the Lady Jags in 2011 by a score of 4-3 in the final.
Doubles play began with the Lady Braves staying even at #1 and #2 doubles but
Arielle Buchmann and Keti MeBuke came of court quickly with a solid 8-1 win at #3 verses Morgan Taylor and Demetria Woods. The Lady Jags pulled ahead of Daria Rud and
Chan Rutherford by a score of 8-5 at #3 doubles and evened the doubles at one point each. Kersten and Viktoriya were again in a hard fought match against Carlista Mohammed and Lois Alexis but lead by a score of 6-4 when the Lady Jags evened the match at one point each. The Lady Jags fought back to even the match at 6-6 but the Lady Braves were able to break serve against Carlista Mohammed to take a 7-6 lead. Viktoriya Kozachuk sealed the win by holding serve and winning the #1 match 8-6 and giving the Lady Braves the ultimately important doubles point. The Lady Braves pulled out the win over the Lady Jags with wins at #2 singles by Keti MeBuke, #5 singles by
Arielle Buchmann, and #6 singles Daria Rud.
The win was a big momentum builder for the Lady Braves in setting their goal of winning the SWAC Title again in 2012 but they know the championship will be hard to take with several strong teams in contention. This was a good win for the Lady Braves because they did not play their best tennis after coming off the previous 3.5 hour match with AA&M but still managed to put together a win over the very talented Lady Jags. The Lady Braves are beginning to play better tennis by keeping down unforced errors and showing much improvement in their tactical approach in match play.
The Braves and Lady Braves will continue to work hard in non-conference matches (See 2012 Season Schedule) and be ready for the next SWAC Tournament in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on March 29 – 30, 2012.
All match scores posted in the near future.
