The Prairie View A&M University men’s tennis team captured its first SWAC tennis title since 1970 and 18th overall with a 4-2 victory over Alcorn State in the SWAC championships at City Park Tennis Complex in Alexandria.The number one seeded Panthers defeated Alabama A&M 4-0 in the semifinal round on Friday, April 15 and came out strong to capture the doubles points. Prairie View’s number one doubles team of senior Blessing Bvunzawabaya and sophomore Kudzai Chiridza defeated the Alcorn State tandem of Abhay Prakash and Tim Verlin 8-5.
Prairie View wrapped up the doubles point when the number three team of junior David Herrera and 91st ranked nationally (Intercollegiate Tennis Association) junior Xavier Godoy posted an 8-3 win over Alcorn State’s Dimitry Beloossov and Roman Levochkin.
Prairie View clinched the championship with wins at the number one, three and six singles. Freshman Nicolas Bateman defeated ASU’s Beloossov 6-3, 6-1 while the 91st ranked Godoy posted a solid win over Alcorn State’s Levochkin with a 6-0, 6-0 victory.
Freshman Andy Narido, playing at the number two spot, defeated ASU’s Marcos Hernandez 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 to clinch the match for the Panthers.
Fourth-year head coach John Cochran, who guided the Panthers to the SWAC Tournament finals last season, was elated with the victory.
“It feels very good to be SWAC champions. I am so proud of my players because I knew we could get it done,” said Cochran. “Winning the SWAC title was a goal we set after falling in the finals last year and now we’ve achieved our goal. We took no one for granted and did what we had to do in order to bring the championship home to Prairie View.”
With the win, the Panthers earned an automatic bid and will represent the SWAC in the 121st NCAA Men’s Tennis Championships. The first round will begin on May 13 against an opponent and at a site to be named later.
Singles
1. Abhay Prakash (ASU) def. Blessing Bvunzawabaya (PV) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
2. Andy Narido (PV) def. Marcos Hernandez (ASU) 6-2, 1-6, 6-4
3. Nicolas Bateman (PV) def. Dimitry Beloossov (ASU) 6-3, 6-1
4. Tim Verner (ASU) def. Kudzai Chiridza 6-4, 6-1
5. David Herrera (PV) vs. Shashank Kulkarni 6-5 (susp.)
6. Xavier Godoy (PV) def. Roman Levochkin 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
1. Bvunzawabaya/Chiridza (PV) def. Prakash/Verlin (ASU) 8-5
2. Hernandez/Kulkarni (ASU) def. Bateman/Godoy (PV) 8-2
3. X. Godoy/Herrera (PV) def. Beloossov/Levochkin (ASU) 8-3.