Coppin State Results Morgan State Results
BALTIMORE, Md. – The Norfolk State women's tennis team concluded its regular season with a two-day, two-match sweep of its MEAC Northern Division foes in Baltimore, shutting out Coppin State 7-0 Sunday after a 4-3 win at Morgan State on Saturday.
The victories allowed Norfolk State (6-7, 4-2 MEAC North) to clinch the second seed in the Northern Division in the upcoming MEAC Championship. Norfolk State and Morgan State finished the regular season tied for second place in the division at 4-2, but the Spartans earned the tie breaker due to their victory over the Bears.
Norfolk State's No. 1 doubles duo of
Dajana Cvjetkovic and
Liza Gordeeva defeated Coppin State's Tanna Nita and Ajla Hrnjic 6-2, while
Paula Fortuno and
Aranza Mellet earned a 6-3 victory over the Eagles' duo of Tinashe Gwaze and Precious Udofe at the No. 3 position. Brittanie Cahua and Carentxa Goede earned the only victory for the Eagles at the No. 2 position with a 6-2 triumph over
Ana Popovic and
Bruna Goncalves.
In singles action, the Spartans earned straight-set victories in each of the six singles contests.
Cvjetkovic did not lose a game in the two sets against Udofe en route to a 6-0, 6-0 victory at the top singles position, while Gordeeva defeated Goede 6-3, 6-0 at No. 2. Popovic defeated Nita 6-0, 6-1 at the No. 3 position and Fortuno earned a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Cahua at the No. 4. Goncalves registered a victory over Gwaze 6-2, 6-0 at the No. 5 position, while Mellet cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Hrnjic at the No. 6.
Norfolk State 4, Morgan State 3
Cvjetkovic earned the clinching point for NSU in a three-set thriller at No. 1 singles. After NSU took a 1-0 lead by capturing the doubles point, the Bears won three of the first five singles matches to tie the match at 3-all. But Cvjetkovic gutted out a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over MSU's Chloe Kabamba to notch the win for Norfolk State.
In doubles action, Morgan State's top pair of Katia Jordan and Kayla Price defeated Norfolk State's duo of Cvjetkovic and Gordeeva, 6-3. However, the Spartans claimed victories at the Nos. 2 and 3 doubles positions to take a 1-0 lead. Norfolk State's third team of Fortuno and Mellet won by default, while the Spartans' Popovic and Goncalves registered a 6-4 win over the Bears' Danielle Thompson and Kabamba at the No. 2 position.
Morgan State was shorthanded with only five players available for the match, so Mellet earned a default victory at the No. 6 position, extending the Norfolk State's lead to 2-0.
However, momentum quickly swung in the Bears' direction as they claimed each of the next three matches with straight-set victories at the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 positions, respectively.
Thompson cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Gordeeva at the No. 2 position, while Price earned a victory over Popovic 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 3. Jordan handed Fortuno her fourth loss of the season with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph at the No. 4 position.
Despite falling behind 3-2 the Spartans kept battling and claimed victories in the final two matches of the day.
Goncalves cruised to a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Santiago at the No. 5 position, knotting the score at three points apiece. Cvjetkovic then took the deciding point for NSU.
Norfolk State's first-round MEAC Championship opponent and match time will be announced early this week by the conference. The tournament runs Thursday through Saturday at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center at Old Dominion University across town in Norfolk.
