LORMAN, Miss. – The Alcorn State University men's and women's tennis programs closed out the 2019 regular season on a high-note with 4-0 wins over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Friday at the Alcorn Tennis Courts.
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It was the final regular season matches for senior
Nuno Rocha for the Braves (2-4 SWAC), and seniors
Bianca Birkenstock,
Klavdija Bukovec and
Ammaarah Tim for the Lady Braves (5-3 SWAC).
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"I'm very happy with the team's performance and it was a great Senior Day for us. Bianca clinched the women's match, and Nuno almost clinched for the men," said Alcorn head coach
Barbara Oliveira.
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The men kicked it off strong with a 6-0 victory at No. 2 doubles. UAPB was down a player and had to forfeit No. 3, so the duo of
Ivan Matas and
Johnatan Parat clinched the point at No. 2.
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The Braves quickly sealed the match with a pair of flawless singles victories. Sophomore
Stojan Stojanovski won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2 singles, while Matas posted the same scored at No. 4. The Golden Lions forfeited No. 6.
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The Lady Braves also jumped on UAPB in doubles. The pair of Birkenstock and junior
Anastasia Vaganova won 6-0 at No. 2, and the team of Bukovec and junior
Veronika Pytlikova also won 6-0.
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In singles, Birkenstock topped Manoja Reddy 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2 singles. Vaganova capped an undefeated conference season with a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 3, while Tim posted a 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 4.
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Vaganova finished the year with a perfect 6-0 singles record in conference.
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"It was great for us to finish the regular season with a win, which will give us momentum heading into the postseason. I'm really looking forward to the SWAC Championship and our teams are playing well. We've seen a lot of improvement from some of our student-athletes, and I believe we have the potential and talent to win," Oliveria said. "We're going to work very hard this week to prepare and make sure we're playing our best tennis."
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Alcorn will now await for the conference to release the brackets for the 2019 SWAC Championships. It begins Friday, April 12 in New Orleans.
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Men's Tennis
Alcorn 4, UAPB 0
Doubles Competition
1.
Gjorgji Popovski (ALCM) vs. Le'Darrien Ledbetter (UAPB) 6-2, 3-1, unfinished
2.
Stojan Stojanovski (ALCM) def. Thomas Harris (UAPB) 6-0, 6-0
3.
Johnatan Parat (ALCM) vs. Simon Lewis (UAPB) 7-5, unfinished
4.
Ivan Matas (ALCM) def. Kameron Myers (UAPB) 6-0, 6-0
5.
Nuno Rocha (ALCM) vs. Junius Ross (UAPB) 6-0, 1-0, unfinished
6.
Kareem Bowe (ALCM) def. No player (UAPB), by forfeit
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Singles Competition
1.
Gjorgji Popovski/
Stojan Stojanovski (ALCM) def. Thomas Harris/Le'Darrien Ledbetter (UAPB) 4-1
2.
Ivan Matas/
Johnatan Parat (ALCM) def. Simon Lewis/Kameron Myers (UAPB) 6-0
3.
Kareem Bowe/
Nuno Rocha (ALCM) def. No player/No player (UAPB), by forfeit
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Women's Tennis
Alcorn 4, UAPB 0
Doubles Competition
1.
Stefany Grlj/
Ammaarah Tim (ALCW) vs. Ariel Graves/Manoja Reddy (UAPBW) 2-1, unfinished
2.
Anastasia Vaganova/
Bianca Birkenstock (ALCW) def. Karissa Fenwick/Malaik Muhammad (UAPBW) 6-0
3.
Klavdija Bukovec/
Veronika Pytlikova (ALCW) def. Cierra Fenwick/Ta'Miya Strickland (UAPBW) 6-0
Singles Competition
1.
Stefany Grlj (ALCW) vs. Ariel Graves (UAPBW) 6-0, 2-4, unfinished
2.
Bianca Birkenstock (ALCW) def. Manoja Reddy (UAPBW) 6-1, 6-1
3.
Anastasia Vaganova (ALCW) def. Karissa Fenwick (UAPBW) 6-0, 6-0
4.
Ammaarah Tim (ALCW) def. Cierra Fenwick (UAPBW) 6-0, 6-0
5.
Veronika Pytlikova (ALCW) vs. Malaik Muhammad (UAPBW) 6-0, 4-0, unfinished
6.
Klavdija Bukovec (ALCW) vs. Ta'Miya Strickland (UAPBW) 6-0, 1-0, unfinished
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