LORMAN, Miss. – The Alcorn Tennis Courts will see its first competition of 2020 on Friday morning when the men's and women's tennis programs host Eastern Illinois at 10 a.m.
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It will mark the season-opener for the Lady Braves, who were last seen in the finals of the SWAC Championships in 2019.
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After playing at the No. 1 court and earning SWAC All-Tournament Team honors,
Stefany Grlj returns for her sophomore season. She won two key matches at the SWAC Championships in the quarterfinals and semifinals to help Alcorn advance.
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Also returning for the women is senior
Alessandra Maganuco. She missed 2019 due to injury, but earned SWAC All-Tournament Team accolades in 2018. After the season, she won the team's Most Improved award.
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The men will make their second appearance of the year after opening the season last weekend at LSU. The highlight of the day came at No. 3 singles where freshman
Lucas Dini battled to three sets in a defeat. He dropped the third-set tiebreaker in a nail-biter 11-9.
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Alcorn also brings back its top two singles players from last year in senior
Gjorgji Popovski and junior
Stojan Stojanovski. The Macedonian duo have been teaming up at the No. 1 doubles position.
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The EIU men finished fifth in the Ohio Valley Conference last year and won a match in the OVC Tournament before falling to top-seeded Austin Peay 4-2 in the semifinals. EIU returns nearly its entire lineup, including Freddie O'Brien who went 15-7 at No. 1 singles.
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The EIU women ended 2-6 OVC last season and missed the tournament. They have a young squad this year with eight freshmen. Though, junior Rachel Papavasilopoulos will be tough at the top after notching a 19-3 record at No. 1 singles. She was the 2019 OVC Player of the Year.
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Friday begins a busy weekend for Alcorn tennis. The men will hit the road Saturday to face UL-Lafayette at 12 p.m., while the women will travel to Tulane on Sunday for an 11 a.m. start.
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#FearTheBrave
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