Men's Bracket | Women's Bracket
NEW ORLEANS – The Alcorn State University men's and women's tennis programs will begin their postseason push Friday in the quarterfinals of the SWAC Championships at the Pepsi Tennis Center.
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Both the Braves and Lady Braves will enter as the No. 5 seed. The women will take on third-seeded Alabama A&M at 9 a.m., while the men square off with third-seeded Jackson State at 1 p.m.
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"I'm very excited for us to compete at the tournament. We've worked so hard the whole year. We know every match will be very difficult, but we're ready for it. I feel that both the men and women have a chance to win the conference but we have to play our best and come motivated," said Alcorn head coach
Barbara Oliveira.
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The Lady Braves have hit their stride heading into the postseason. They've won their last four conference matches to end with a 5-3 SWAC record. Alcorn had to overcome injuries for most of the season, but slowly began to regain their health.
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The regular season meeting between Alcorn and AAMU came at the first SWAC Round-Up on Feb. 24. The shorthanded Lady Braves dropped a very tight 4-3 decision. Alcorn was without senior
Ammaarah Tim, who has since returned and is 2-0 in conference including the clinching match against Jackson State.
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Junior
Anastasia Vaganova has shined this season. She's a perfect 6-0 in SWAC singles and 10-8 overall on the year. She's played primarily at the No. 2 singles spot. Vaganova was the 2017 SWAC Freshman of the Year.
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Seniors
Bianca Birkenstock and
Klavdija Bukovec will look to end their careers on a high-note. Birkenstock has mainly been Alcorn's No. 1 singles player for the past three seasons, and Bukovec is a four-year letterwinner that was on the 2016 SWAC Championship team.
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For the men, they'll look to bounce back and avenge a tough 4-1 defeat to JSU last week. Sophomore
Stojan Stojanovski posted a convincing 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 2 singles. Junior
Gjorgji Popovski nearly closed out a win and was ahead 6-1, 1-6, 4-2 at the No. 1 spot when the match went unfinished. Sophomore
Johnatan Parat was also in a third set when the Tigers clinched.
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Popovski and Stojanovski have been Alcorn's top players this season and have played No. 1 and 2 singles, respectively. As a team, they are unbeaten in doubles in conference. It will also be the final postseason for senior
Nuno Rocha.
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Parat holds the biggest win of the season with a victory over UL-Lafayette at No. 2 singles. He followed it up with a win at the No. 2 spot against New Orleans a week later.
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The Alcorn men have won eight SWAC Championships and the women four. Last year, the Lady Braves reached the finals, while the Braves got to the semifinals.
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#FearTheBrave
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