Last weekend in Alexandria, La., the women’s tennis team lost to Alcorn State in the semifinal, and the men lost to Southern in the conference final.
From start to finish, the tournament was a site to see as each team fought to the end. The winner is determined by who wins four points first. For the doubles point, three doubles teams play, and the best of the three wins the point. In singles, a point is awarded to the winner of the match.
The opening round merely seemed like a warm-up to the Panthers, as the women swept Jackson State 4-0, and the men swept Alabama State 4-0 as well.
For the women, the doubles point was earned through Samantha Cantu and Munashe Mukuni, 9-7. Antoinette Majors and Jessica Aguilar finished quickly, 8-1. Up one point, the Lady Panthers just needed three more points to send Jackson State home. Wrapping it up for the Panthers were Mukuni who swept her opponent off her feet in straight games, 6-0, 6-0. Cantu followed with a 6-2, 6-3, and Melissa Guerrier closed it out with a 6-3, 6-4 win. The next round of play was Alcorn State.
At times the doubles point determines of the winner and loser of a match. In this case it was the loser for Prairie View. The Lady Panthers went 1-2 in doubles, as the deciding factor of the point came down to a tie-breaker. In singles action, the winners were Melanie Brown 7-5, 6-2, Cantu 6-1, 6-0, and Guerrier 6-4, 7-5. The victors would advance to the next round to play Southern. Aguilar tried her best, but couldn’t bring it home, the loss gave the Panthers an exit out of the tourney.
In the semifinal for the men, the second round was more of a challenge, but they found their winning way, 4-2. In doubles play, the tandem of Andy Narido and Nicolas Bateman blew by Jackson State as Prairie View received the doubles point, 8-0. Narido, Bateman, and Jose Garcia all finished their matches taking their ticket to the finals.
In the finals, Prairie View lost the doubles point, giving Southern the slight upper hand. Narido, Bateman, and Kutlwano Lephuthing all scored points for the Panthers, but the Panthers could not prevail as champions.
All-tournament honors were awarded to Bateman and Cantu. Narido took home SWAC men’s player of the year, and Candace Culmer received All-Academic honors.