NORFOLK, Va. – A year after making the MEAC Championship title match for the second time in school history, Norfolk State has returned to the conference tournament with hopes for more postseason success.
 
NSU (2-14, 0-3 MEAC) received the No. 6 seed in the MEAC Championship, meaning the Spartans will face No. 3 seed Howard in the first round. The match will take place at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Apr. 28 at Cary Tennis Park in Cary, North Carolina.
 
First Howard Meeting
 
Thursday's showdown will not only mark the teams' second meeting of the season, but second meeting at Cary Tennis Park. The Spartans and Bison faced off at the MEAC Tennis Roundup on Mar. 18, with Howard coming out on top 6-1.
 
Howard won the No. 3 doubles slot by default before Tory Bailey and Marcel Dawson defeated Ibrahim Abbas and Roosevelt Brown III 6-0 to clinch the opening point. NSU's top doubles pair, Federico Rebecchini and Hugo Massoni Lena, earned a 6-4 victory over Justin Cadeau and Daniel Dunac.
 
The Bison got the best of NSU in singles, winning position six by default and Nos. 4 and 5 each by a score of 6-0, 6-0. Dunac beat Abbas 6-0, 6-2 at the No. 3 slot, while Dawson took down Massoni Lena 6-2, 6-1 on Court 2.
 
Federico Rebecchini earned the Spartans' lone point of the day in a back-and-forth battle at No. 1 singles against Justin Cadeau. Rebecchini won the first set 6-4 but dropped the second in a tiebreaker by two points. The NSU senior won the ensuing third set tiebreak 10-8 to finish the marathon match.
 
Scouting the Bison
 
Howard has completely turned around its tennis program in the last few years. The Bison posted a combined record of 3-46 from 2017-20, but now have emerged as one of the top teams in the conference.
 
Headed by Director of Tennis Nicholas Askew, Howard (5-7, 3-2 MEAC) won two of its three matches of the MEAC Roundup, falling only to top-seeded South Carolina State. The sophomore Cadeau has won four of his ten matches at No. 1 singles, while Dawson sports a 6-4 record across the No. 2, 3, and 4 positions.