NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk State women's tennis notched its third-straight win with a 6-1 victory over Howard on Saturday at the NSU Tennis Complex. In doing so, the Spartans (4-7, 3-0 MEAC) clinched a winning conference mark for only the third time in the past 10 seasons.
 
The doubles point came down to a thrilling tiebreaker at No. 2 doubles after the teams split the first two flights.
 
Naz Karagoz and Zoe Fraser picked up a 6-1 victory over Nicole Hutchison and Christina Joynes on the first court, but the Bison (3-11, 1-1 MEAC) answered with a 6-4 win by Aria Ragas and Dominique Jackson over Bruna Goncalves and Adriana Strode at No. 3 doubles.
 
The doubles pairing of Karagoz and Fraser continued their recent run of dominance, winning its sixth-straight decision.
 
Paula Fortunoa and Joyce Fields split the first 12 points with Yassmine Khiri and Kendall Addison but prevailed, 9-7, in the tiebreaker to win the flight, 7-6, and hand the doubles point to the Spartans.
 
NSU quickly clinched the match by rallying off three-straight wins to open singles competition.
 
Fraser swept Addison – 6-2, 6-1 – on the third court before Karagoz, NSU's lone senior, capped her Senior Day with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Khiri on the first court.
 
Fortuno battled back from a first-set loss to win in three and seal the victory for the Spartans. The junior dropped her first set, 7-5, before taking the next two – 6-3, 6-2.
 
HU picked up its lone point on the sixth court, where Jackson handed Strode a 6-0, 6-3 defeat.
 
Fields cruised in her tiebreaker set to win at No. 4 singles. The Newport News native won the first set, 6-4, before being topped by Joynes by the same 6-4 margin in the second. Fields then rallied in the superset tiebreaker, winning 10-5.
 
Goncalves gave Ragas a 6-1, 6-2 defeat on the fifth court to end the match.
 
With only Northern Division matches remaining, the Spartans take to Baltimore next weekend for contests against Coppin State (April 6) and Morgan State (April 7). If the Spartans can handle their final two conference foes they will finish MEAC play with an unblemished record for just the second time in program history – joining the 2015-16 team, who went 6-0.