Men's Bracket | Women's Bracket

NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State tennis teams will compete at the 2016 MEAC Championship beginning on Thursday when the quarterfinal rounds get underway at ODU's Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center in Norfolk.
 
The tournaments will take place from Thursday through Saturday and are free and open to the public. The Spartan women will kick things off on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. with their quarterfinal matchup with North Carolina Central. The Spartan men take on South Carolina State at 4 p.m. in their quarterfinal contest.
 
The NSU women earned the No. 1 seed from the Northern Division after posting a perfect 6-0 record in conference play. They face an Eagles squad that defeated the Spartans 4-3 on Sunday in a non-conference match at the NSU Tennis Complex. NCCU earned the No. 4 seed from the South after going 2-3.
 
Norfolk State also finished 9-11 overall and earned its first regular season conference title since joining the league prior to the 1998 season. The Eagles enter the tournament with a 5-12 overall record.
 
South Carolina State earned the No. 3 seed from the South on the men's side after losing a three-way tiebreaker for first with Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M at 3-1. The Bulldogs were awarded last year's NCAA tournament berth after the championship match of the MEAC tournament was suspended. Before that, S.C. State had won seven straight titles.
 
NSU secured the No. 2 seed from the North, falling only to Morgan State on Saturday to finish conference play at 4-1. The Spartans own a 6-15 overall record, while S.C. State carries a 9-8 mark into the matchup.
 
On Tuesday, the Spartans swept the postseason MEAC Rookie of the Year awards, with Benedikt Henning winning on the men's side and Marta Gomar taking the women's rookie award. Henning was also named first team all-conference, and senior Andrea Macchiavello garnered second team honors. Head coach Worth Richardson earned the MEAC Coach of the Year award for women's tennis as well.
 
This year marked the first season both Spartan tennis teams competed in the Northern Division. The top four teams from each division advance to the MEAC tournament.
 
In addition, senior Mafalda Lhorca, junior Liza Gordeeva and sophomores Dajana Cvjetkovic and Antonio Pejic were named to the MEAC All-Academic Team for having a GPA of 3.0 or better. Only sophomores, juniors and seniors, as well as transfer student-athletes, who have been in residence at the institution for at least one year are eligible. Both tennis squads have the highest teams GPAs among their respective genders among all sports at NSU.

The second two quarterfinal matches on the women's side will begin at 11 a.m., and the first two quarterfinal contests on the men's side will start at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday. The women's semifinals begin at 9 a.m. on Friday, with the men's semis starting at noon.
 
The women's championship match will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, followed by the men's championship at noon as well. The tournaments had been held in South Carolina and North Carolina the last decade before coming to Norfolk this year.