The Alabama State University Hornet men’s and women’s tennis team traveled to College Park, Georgia to compete in the annual HBCU National Tennis Championships.
The men’s team swept the competition with an overall 30 point standing against Tennessee State University (19), Alabama A&M University (17), Xavier University of Louisiana (17), North Carolina Central University (8), Johnson C. Smith University (4), Shaw University, (3), Tuskegee University (3) and LeMoyne-Owen College (0).
Starting off in singles play, within the Flight A bracket, Junior Ruan Du Preez advanced to the finals for the Hornets with a 2-0 match win over Tennessee State’s Freshman Taj Hibbert (7-6, 6-4) and Xavier University’s Freshman Mathieu Strauss (6-2, 7-5), before finishing with a loss in the final round against Tennessee State’s Freshman Jonasz Dziopak (7-5, 6-0).
Hornet’s Junior Samrakshyak Bajracharya, who also competed during the singles in Flight A, advanced to the quarterfinals, before losing to North Carolina Central’s Graduate Sebastian Pino (6-3, 6-3).
Throughout Flight B, Hornet’s David Jeanne-Grandinot and Matis Amier both saw success through the process of making it to the quarterfinals and the semifinals before both teammates had to face off against each other in the final with David Jeanne-Grandinot coming out victorious (6-2).
In Flight C, Sophomore Kristofer Johnson also made it to the final round with back-to-back victories against Tuskegee’s Josue Blocus (6-0, 6-0), Johnson C. Smith’s Jerome Adonis (6-0, 6-0), Xaiver’s Vander Woody (6-2, 2-6, [10-5]), and Alabama A&M’s Arnav Pathange in the semifinals (6-4, 6-4). He then took a loss in the finals against Xavier’s Nereo Suarez (6-3, 7-6, 6-3).
Things started to heat up for the Hornets during doubles play in both Flight A and Flight B.
During the challenge in Flight A, Preez and Bajracharya controlled the competition, advancing to the finals, where they suffered a loss to Xavier’s Vander Woody and Jacobi Bain (6-3).
In Flight B, Hornet duos Amier and Jeanne-Grandinot, and Johnson and Louca Bertone were successful by dominating the other competition on both sides and making it to the finals.
When both ASU duos met at the finals, Amier and Jeanne-Grandinot came out of the match triumphant with a (6-3) match win.
The Hornets are back in action when they travel to Samford University for the Samford Hidden Dual Sept. 30, 2022.