Men's Bracket |
Women's Bracket
NEW ORLEANS – The conference office released the 2017 pairings for the tennis SWAC Championships, and the Alcorn State University men's program earned the No. 3 seed, while the women are No. 4.
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The Lady Braves (9-15, 5-3 SWAC), who are the defending champions, are pitted against sixth-seeded Grambling State (3-13, 3-5 SWAC) at 9 a.m. Friday, while the Braves (7-19, 4-2 SWAC) will face fifth-seeded Arkansas-Pine Bluff (4-21, 2-4 SWAC) at 1 p.m. Friday. All matches will be played at the Pepsi Tennis Center.
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In the first meeting this season, the Alcorn women defeated Grambling 4-1. The Lady Braves won the doubles point and picked up victories at No. 1 singles with freshman
Daria Chemodanova, No. 2 singles with sophomore
Bianca Birkenstock and No. 6 singles with sophomore
Marlene Maier.
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Maier is the reigning SWAC Tournament MVP winner.
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If the Lady Braves advance, they would face top-seeded Alabama State (11-9, 8-0 SWAC) at 9 a.m. Saturday. The Hornets won the first matchup this year 4-0, but all the unfinished matches were in third sets. The Lady Braves also grabbed a win at No. 2 doubles where Birkenstock and freshman
Anastasia Vaganova finished off Brankica Orlovic and Marija Blazevic 6-3.
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The Braves took down UAPB 4-1 in the first meeting. After the Golden Lions won the doubles point, Alcorn quickly responded with straight-set wins at No. 3, 4, 5 and 6 singles. Junior
Kert Kilumets was also one game away from winning at No. 1 singles as he led 7-5, 5-1.
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If the Braves win, they will take on second-seeded Jackson State (6-19, 7-13 SWAC) at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Tigers squeaked out a 4-2 result in the first meeting but a lot of the matches were close and could have gone either way.
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The women's championship match will take place at 9 a.m. Sunday, followed by the men at 1 p.m.
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The Alcorn men have won eight SWAC Championships and the women have won four. Head coach
Anthony Dodgen has been at the helm for all 12 titles.
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#FearTheBrave
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