ATLANTA — They are the queens on The Hill.
After three days of competition over the weekend, the Alabama A&M University women’s tennis team emerged victorious in the 23rd annual HBCU National Tennis Championship at the South Fulton Tennis Center in Atlanta.
“We are excited about bringing home this HBCU National Championship,” Alabama A&M head coach Willis Mbandi said. “I am proud of this team and these young women for competing throughout the tournament.
“This is just the first step in continuing to build this program.”
The Bulldogs took first place after tallying 84 points during the event. Hampton finished second with 73 points, followed by North Carolina Central with 57 points.
On Thursday, Ntokozo Zungu and Naomi Blanks claimed the first points for the Bulldogs after they defeated Julie Tungamirai and Jennt Zapien of Albany State, 6-1. In singles, Abide Valentine Talaki defeated Valerie Essome of Benedict College 4-6, 7-5, (10-6). Hannah Nagpall added more points for AAMU by defeating Victoria Cooksey, 5-7, 6-2, [10-6]. Alicia Owegi recorded her first win with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Alcorn State’s Nikita Liyanage. Talaki would notch her second win of the day after defeating SWAC opponent Jackson State’s Isabella Benavides, 4-6, 7-5, (10-6). Gabrielle Henderson would claim a win of her own after defeating JSU’s Zofia Dziewiecka 6-4, 7(7)-6(3).
Owegi notched her second win of the day against Morgan State’s Julia Jeffrey 2-6, 6-5, (10-5). Blanks would follow suit, winning her match against Tennessee State’s Claudia Murdasanu 6-2, 6-1. Blanks earned yet another, beating Benedict College’s Carmene Kpadonou in straight 6-0 sets. In the final match of opening day for the Bulldogs, Sofia Sotelo Raya defeated NCCU’s Gabriela Mejia Arenas, 6-1, 6-2.
On Friday, Talaki and Henderson defeated Southern University’s Kai Wince and Paris Washington, 6-3. In singles play, Zungu, Talaki, Henderson and Sotelo Raya won in the round of 16.
In Saturday’s final day of competition, Sotelo Raya won the semifinal round after beating in-state rival Alabama State’s Ena Arnautovic, 6-1, 7-5.
The match was separated into three flights, A, B and C. Each draw started with either a round of 32 or 64 for singles and 16 or 32 for doubles. Schools were able to enter as many as four singles players and 3 doubles teams in any flight. Trophies were awarded to first and second place finishers in each flight and first place consolation winners. For every win in the main draw, in doubles, two points were awarded for R64, R32, and R16, three points for qualifying matches, four points for semifinal matches and 5 points for Champions.
In singles play, the first four rounds won three points, with semifinals tallying 5 points, third place taking four points and champions taking seven points. For every win in the consolation draw, one point was awarded.
Alabama A&M returns to action Oct. 4-5 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Fall Championships hosted by the Bulldogs at the AAMU Tennis Courts.
Don’t miss out! Subscribe to our email newsletter to have all our smart stories delivered to your inbox.
