NEW ORLEANS – A spirited Alcorn State University women's tennis program made its postseason push to the finals of the SWAC Championships, but ultimately top-seeded Alabama State notched a 4-0 decision Sunday at the Pepsi Tennis Center.
It came after the men's team battled past midnight last night in tough 4-2 defeat to the Hornets in the semifinals.
"All in all, considering the amount of adversity our teams had gone through this entire season, I don't think we could have done any better. I was amazed at how well we did considering how little we had to work with. We didn't have home courts until the final week, and were having to practice in Vicksburg which wasn't ideal," said Alcorn head coach
Anthony Dodgen. "Both the men and women showed a lot of heart this weekend. These student-athletes were incredibly dedicated and determined, and worked really hard the whole year."
The fifth-seeded Lady Braves reached the finals after defeating third-seeded Southern 4-2 in the quarterfinals and second-seeded Prairie View A&M 4-3 in the semifinals.
"I felt great joy after we beat Southern. It's always been a big rivalry in my 21 years and we've had so many hard matches against them. I have a lot of respect for their coach and program, and it means a lot to be able to shake their hands after a win in the final encounter against them for me," Dodgen said.
Against PVAMU, it came down to a final match where junior
Marlene Maier prevailed with a 6-1, 7-6 victory over Timara Maxwell at No. 6 singles. Both Maier and Maxwell entered the match undefeated against SWAC competition and were on the All-Conference Team.
"The Prairie View match was payback. The only time they'd ever beaten us in my 21 years here was earlier this season at SWAC Round-Up. They were really loud about it during their celebration and tried it rub it in our faces by yelling they beat Alcorn," Dodgen said. "We hadn't forgotten about that and our student-athletes showed a lot of resiliency."
In today's finals, the Lady Braves put up a fight in a couple unfinished matches including No. 1 singles where junior
Bianca Birkenstock was tied 6-6 in the first set when Alabama State clinched.
"We just ran out of gas today. It was a long tournament for us coming off two tough matches and we just didn't have enough," Dodgen said. "Alabama State was fresh and they are a really good team with no weaknesses. It was going to be hard for us to get past such a tough opponent, but I am extremely proud of our team."
After the match, sophomore
Alessandra Maganuco was named to the SWAC All-Tournament Team.
Dodgen announced it was his final match at the helm and will retire at the end of the fiscal school year.
Women's Tennis
Alabama State 4, Alcorn 0
Singles Competition
1. Chloe Kabamba (ALST) vs.
Bianca Birkenstock (ALCN) 6-6, unfinished
2. Reka Szentes (ALST) def.
Ammaarah Tim (ALCN) 6-2, 6-1
3. Gabriela Lackova (ALST) def.
Alessandra Maganuco (ALCN) 6-3, 6-0
4. Lea Krajcovicova (ALST) def.
Klavdija Bukovec (ALCN) 6-1, 6-1
5. Mirna Curcic (ALST) vs.
Anastasia Vaganova (ALCN) 6-0, 4-4, unfinished
6. Marija Blazevic (ALST) vs.
Marlene Maier (ALCN) 6-3, 5-2, unfinished
Doubles Competition
1. Reka Szentes/Chloe Kabamba (ALST) vs.
Bianca Birkenstock/
Anastasia Vaganova (ALCN) 5-1, unfinished
2. Gabriela Lackova/Lea Krajcovicova (ALST) def.
Ammaarah Tim/
Alessandra Maganuco (ALCN) 6-0
3. Mirna Curcic/Marija Blazevic (ALST) def.
Marlene Maier/
Klavdija Bukovec (ALCN) 6-2
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