LORMAN, Miss. – Kicking off the season with a pair of home matches, the Alcorn State University women's tennis program will host Stephen F. Austin at 11 a.m. Saturday and Southern Miss at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Alcorn Tennis Courts.
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It will be the season-opener for the Lady Braves (0-0), who reached the finals of the SWAC Championships last season. Alcorn brought back five starters from that squad.
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At the top,
Bianca Birkenstock returns for her senior season. Birkenstock played every match at No. 1 singles last year and posted a 4-2 record in conference. She picked up a crucial win in the SWAC semifinals to help the team advance to the finals. Birkenstock won the team's Most Valuable honor at the 2018 Alcorn awards banquet.
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Another key returnee is junior
Anastasia Vaganova. She teamed with Birkenstock at No. 1 doubles. Vaganova went 4-1 in conference in singles last year and also won a big match in the SWAC semifinals. Vaganova was the 2017 SWAC Freshman of the Year and an All-Conference First-Team honoree. She's 9-4 in SWAC singles matches in her career.
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The Lady Braves also bring back seniors
Klavdija Bukovec and
Ammaarah Tim, and juniors
Alessandra Maganuco and
Veronika Pytlikova. They added one newcomer in freshman
Stefany Grlj.
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Saturday marks the season-opener for SFA (0-0) as well. The Lady Jacks were 4-17 overall and 2-9 in the Southland Conference last year. USM (0-0) will host Florida A&M on Friday and Jackson State on Saturday before heading to Alcorn. The Golden Eagles were 18-6 last season.
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The Alcorn men's team was originally scheduled to play at Southern Miss on Saturday, but the match has been moved to 2 p.m. Monday.
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#FearTheBrave
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