The men’s and women’s tennis teams competed in the western division of the SWAC at Prairie View A&M University March 21-23. The tournament was critical because the winner received the number one seed from the west division in the SWAC tournament and a first round bye in the tournament.
The men played well in each of their first day matches and were up 2-0 going into their final day of competition. They had an easy time with Arkansas Pine Bluff and a difficult match with Grambling State but still came out victorious.
The final match of west round up play was against Southern. Team members senior Nicolas Bateman and freshman Kudakwashe Nyatoti did not lose any singles matches throughout the tournament, but the men fell 4-2 to Southern.
Despite the loss the Panthers will have the number two seed from the west in the SWAC tournament and are poised for big things according to Coach Cochran.
“If we can play as a team we can win the SWAC title,” Cochran said.
The women’s team also had their fate of getting a number one seed decided on the final day of play against Southern. Junior Melanie Brown defeated Southern’s number one player. Senior Antoinette Majors fought valiantly in her match against Southern. She was down 5-3 and came back to win the set.
The match was decided in the third set and Majors lost. Despite their effort the Lady Panthers faced the same fate as their men counterparts and have a number two seed going into the SWAC championships.
Cochran is confident that both of his teams can go to Alexandria, La for the SWAC championships April 17-20 and win the titles.
For now, the teams will have some last go round preparations before the conference tourney. The women will have their last home appearance Friday, April 11 versus Tarleton State University at 3 p.m. The men will square off against Rice University in Houston, Wednesday, April 9 at 7 p.m.