ATLANTA, GA – The Southern women’s tennis team claimed the 2009 HBCU National Championship on Saturday at the 9th annual tournament in Atlanta, GA.

The Lady Jaguars prevailed in the competition that included 11 teams from various HBCU conferences. SU was led by Carlista Mahommed, who won the Flight B women’s singles title. In a marathon match that lasted nearly four hours, Mahommad overcame Florida A&M’s Alexis Brown 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 to garner the singles honor.

Other stellar performances by SWAC women included Alcorn State’s Arielle Buchman advancing to the Flight C finals round before falling 6-0, 6-1 to Hampton’s Tabitha Daolio. Making appearances in the semifinals round were Alabama A&M’s Jasmine Cherry and Southern’s Janell Mosley.

In women’s doubles action, Flight A saw Southern’s Megan Wiltz and Kathryn Curtis advance to the finals but suffering a 9-8 loss in an intense match versus Hampton’s Baek & Sangria. The Flight B women’s doubles semifinals round was loaded with SWAC representatives as Southern’s Demetria Woods & Alicia Shaw took on a duo from Hampton in the top bracket while Alcorn State’s Katherine Hoepelman & Arielle Buchman faced Southern’s Carlista Mahommed & Jo’Vanna Gaines in the bottom bracket (match would be called due to weather).

On the men’s side, the singles competition was highlighted by Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s Eduardo Legue Flight B finals appearance. Despite falling to Xavier’s Hassan Abbas 6-4, 2-0 (Ret), Legue made a strong effort in the competitive match. In Flight C action, Alcorn State’s Pushpendra Rajpurohit advanced to the semifinals round but fell to FAMU’s Takur Happy 6-2, 6-3.

In the doubles contests, Arkansas-Pine Bluff duo Hugo Gomez & Eduardo Legue competed in the Flight A semifinals round while the Flight B semifinals round was dominated by SWAC teams. In the top bracket, Alcorn State’s Alexander Lidar & Anton Krutkin took down a FAMU duo 8-5 to advance into the finals. In the bottom bracket, Prairie View A&M’s Craig Wiltz & Kris Powell faced off with Alcorn State’s Yanick Shearon-Hawkins & Diago Gonsalvez as the Alcorn State pair prevailed 9-7, ensuring the all-Alcorn State finale. In the finals, it was Shearon-Hawkins & Gonsalvez that overcame their fellow teammates 8-6 to claim the Flight B doubles title.