For the second time in the past seven years, Prairie View A&M University hosted the SWAC West Tennis Roundups Saturday and Sunday against Southern University, University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, and Grambling State University.
Visiting tennis players played on the newly renovated Panther courts which displayed PVAMU school spirit. Unlimited fruit and water were provided to all players to maintain the balance in their bodies during matches.
Tennis head coach John Cochran Jr. said, “Hosting the roundups were a lot of fun as the referees and SWAC officials were great. It’s always good when there is little to no controversy and hopefully we can host them again sometime in the near future.”
The women’s tennis gained the SWAC West’s second spot in the upcoming tennis championships, which will begin April 15 at the City Park Tennis Center in Alexandria, La., after what proved to be successful defeat over UAPB and GSU.
The men’s tennis team beat UAPB 4-2 and are now ready to take charge in April’s SWAC Tennis Championships. Second doubles Kuda Nyatoti and Ronald Chidzikwe won their match 8-0.
Cochran said, “We had a pretty good match versus UAPB, but we got a bit of a scare. UAPB came after us with vengeance as they were ready to play. We had to call on everybody as we got wins from several people which proved to make the difference.”
The men’s and women’s tennis teams will be spending time practicing and practicing in hopes of repeating last year’s celebration, where when the men’s tennis team brought home the SWAC title to PVAMU.