CARY, N.C. – The Norfolk State women's tennis team saw its historic 2026 season come to a heartbreaking close on Saturday morning, falling 4-3 to top-seeded Morgan State in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championship match at Cary Tennis Park.
With the loss, the Spartans finish the season 16-10 overall after making their first championship appearance in 18 years.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Norfolk State opened the match by claiming the doubles point, rallying from an early deficit to take a 1-0 lead into singles play.
Morgan State struck first at No. 2 doubles with a 6-2 win, but Regina Urbiola and Yana Klimchuk responded with a 6-4 victory at No. 3 to even the score. Yuliya Yurkova and Julia Daroszewska then clinched the point at No. 1 doubles with a hard-fought 7-5 win.
In singles action, the teams traded points throughout a tightly contested match.
Morgan State evened the score at 1-1 with a win at No. 5 singles before Klimchuk regained the lead for the Spartans with a 6-4, 6-2 victory at No. 4.
The Lady Bears answered with wins at No. 6 and No. 1 singles to take a 3-2 advantage.
Yurkova delivered a clutch performance at No. 2 singles, battling to a 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 victory to even the match at 3-3 and set up a winner-take-all showdown at No. 3.
At the deciding court, Urbiola and Morgan State's Amira Bargaoui went the distance in a dramatic three-set battle. After dropping a tight second-set tiebreak, Urbiola jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the final set before Bargaoui rallied to claim the set 7-5, securing the MEAC Championship for Morgan State.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Norfolk State placed four selections on the MEAC All-Tournament Team:
Singles
Doubles
