ALEXANDRIA, La. – Top-seeded Alcorn State (ASU) held on for a 4-2 win over third-seeded Jackson State (JSU) in the SWAC Men’s Tennis Championship Sunday afternoon at Alexandria City Park Tennis Complex.
A dramatic three-set win by Alexandr Lidzar at the No. 2 spot and a hard-fought win at No. 6 singles spelled the difference for the Braves, who won its sixth SWAC men’s title with the victory.
Alcorn State won the doubles point and jumped out to a 2-0 lead after posting a win at No. 4 singles. JSU rallied and won the No. 3 and No. 5 singles spots to even the score at 2-2, but Yanick-Shearron Williams gave ASU a 3-2 lead with his 7-5, 6-2 win over Nicholas Crawford at No. 6 singles. Lidzar sealed the match for the Braves with a three-set victory over Navaneetha Baskaran at the No. 2 spot.
The NCAA Tennis Championships begin May 13 at campus sites to be determined. Alcorn State earns the SWAC’s automatic tournament bid.
Results:
No. 1 Alcorn State 4, vs. No. 3 Jackson State 2
April 17, 2011 at Alexandria, La.
Doubles Competition
1. Alexandr Lidzar/Anton Krutkin (ALCN) vs. Navaneetha Baskaran/Mitchell de Jong (JSU) 7-6 DNF
2. Winfried Weinbeer/Pushpendra Rajpurouit (ALCN) def. Nicholas Crawford/Andre Santamaria 8-1
3. Yanick Shearron-Hawkins/Alejandro Dominguez (ALCN) def. Vishesh Bhatia/Jose Luque (JSU) 8-5
Singles Competition
1. Anton Krutkin (ALCN) vs. Vishesh Bhatia (JSU) 6-2 DNF
2. Alexandr Lidzar (ALCN) def. Navaneetha Baskaran (JSU) 5-7, 6-0, 6-3
3. Mitchell de Jong (JSU) def. Alejandro Dominguez (ALCN) 6-3, 6-2
4. Winfried Weinbeer (ALCN) def. Andre Santamaria (JSU) 6-1, 6-1
5. Jose Luque (JSU) def. Pushpendra Rajpurouit (ALCN) 6-4, 6-3
6. Yanick Shearron-Hawkins (ALCN) def. Nicholas Crawford (JSU) 7-5, 6-2
All-Tournament Team
(Determined by records during tournament play)
Alcorn State: Anton Krutkin (MVP)
Alcorn State: Winfried Weinbeer
Jackson State: Vishesh Bhatia
Jackson State: Jose Luque
Alabama State: Joshua Donaldson
Arkansas-Pine Bluff: Eduardo Luque
Coach of the Year: Anthony Dodgen, Alcorn State
