NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State men's and women's tennis teams gear up for the 2018 MEAC Tennis Championships, held this Thursday through Saturday at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center on the campus of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Admission to the championships is free.
 
The men's tennis team received the No. 2 seed out of the Northern Division and plays Bethune-Cookman, the Southern Division's No. 3 seed, on Thursday at 4 p.m. The women's tennis team earned the No. 4 seed out of the Northern Division and drew the Southern Division's top seed, Florida A&M, on Thursday at 8:30 a.m.
 
On the men's side, the Spartans amassed a 3-1 record in Northern Division contests with their lone loss coming to division champion Morgan State (4-0), 4-2 on April 15. NSU also collected 4-0 victories over Howard and Coppin State and defeated Hampton 6-1.
 
No. 3-seeded Hampton (2-2) and fourth-seeded Howard (1-3) round out the Northern Division's representation.
 
In the Southern Division, South Carolina State went 4-0 to wrap up the top seed. Florida A&M (3-1) received the No. 2 seed, followed by No. 3 seed Bethune-Cookman (2-2) and fourth-seeded North Carolina Central (1-3).
 
The women's field saw Hampton sweep through the Northern Division with a 6-0 mark to receive the top seed, and Morgan State (5-1) earned the No. 2 seed. Howard (4-2) and the Spartans (3-3) round out the field. NSU won its final two matches of the regular season, topping Coppin State and Maryland Eastern Shore, to secure its spot in the bracket.
 
Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman both finished the regular season with 4-1 records in Southern Division action, but the Rattlers earn the top seed by virtue of their 5-2 win over the Wildcats. B-CU receives the No. 2 seed as a result. No. 3-seeded South Carolina State (3-2) and No. 4-seeded North Carolina A&T (2-3) complete the field.
 
On Tuesday, two Spartans reaped first team All-MEAC honors. Women's senior Dajana Cvjetkovic earned the second all-conference nod of her career after earning second team distinctions last season. Men's sophomore Andres Alcaraz punctuated his breakout campaign with his first-career all-MEAC selection.
 
The following day, a total of eight Spartans – Alcaraz, Agustin Carrizo, Vini Da Silva, Dan Dumitrascu, Paula Fortuno, Bruna Goncalves, Ignacio Guevel and Makayla Peterson – were all named to the 2018 MEAC Tennis All-Academic teams. All-Academic selections are reserved for sophomore, junior and senior student-athletes with a cumulative grade point average at or above 3.0.
 
Women's quarterfinal action begins at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday with men's quarterfinals to follow at 1:30 p.m. The women's semifinals are scheduled for a 9 a.m. start on Friday with the men's matches to follow at 12 p.m.
 
The women kick off championship Saturday at 9 a.m. The men's championship match will begin at 12 p.m.