NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State men's and women's tennis teams return to Cary, N.C. this week with their sights aimed at a conference championship.
 
The MEAC Tennis Championships take serve on Thursday morning at Cary Tennis Park, with champions being crowned on Saturday after multiple days of intense bracket play.
 
Opening Matchups
After receiving the No. 6 seed in the tournament, the Norfolk State women's tennis team will open postseason play against No. 3 seed Delaware State at 11 a.m. on Thursday. The Hornets bested the Spartans 6-1 in the team's first meeting of the season, with Aleksandra Evdokimova earning the Spartans' point at No. 1 singles.
 
The Norfolk State men's team has earned the No. 5 seed in the event, facing No. 4 seed Howard in the opening round of play at 2 p.m. on Thursday. The Bison pulled out a tight 4-3 victory in the teams' first meeting of the season, with the doubles point proving crucial to the final result.
 
All-Academic Teams
Norfolk State had 10 tennis players named to the MEAC All-Academic Team on Tuesday, four from the men's side and six from the women's:
 
All-Academic Honorees
Ibrahim Abbas
Roosevelt Brown III
Breana Cook
Aleksandra Evdokimova
Amber Fuller
Niya Grant
Saadiq Hinton
Boris Lunin
Zada McMorris
Laura Ruiz
 
MEAC sophomore, junior, and senior student-athletes with a 3.0 or better cumulative grade point average, as well as transfer student athletes who have been in residence at the institution for at least one year, are eligible for All-Academic accolades.
 
Every player on the Norfolk State women's tennis roster that could have made the list received the selection, with Amal Gati not qualifying due to her freshman status.
 
Howard was the only tennis program with more All-Academic honorees this season (12), while South Carolina State also had 10 players receive the recognition.