BIRMINGHAM – The 2010 SWAC Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships will take place this weekend Friday, April 16 – Sunday, April 18 in Alexandria, LA.
The top three teams from the Eastern and Western divisions qualified for the tournament and will face off in a single elimination format. First round action will begin at 9 a.m. on Friday, April 16 with the women’s teams in play, followed by the men’s squads at 1 p.m. Semifinals are scheduled for Saturday while the championship matches are slated for Sunday. All matches will be played at the Alexandria City Park Tennis Complex and the Alexandria Racquet and Aquatic Club.
In the women’s bracket, East #1 seed Jackson State and West #1 seed Southern will each receive byes in the first round of the tournament. J-State, the defending 2009 champions, posted a 7-1 record to clinch the #1 spot in the East. Southern went undefeated with an 8-0 mark to claim the top seed in the West.
With a 5-3 record, Prairie View A&M clinched the #2 slot in the West and will take on Alabama A&M in the first round. The Bulldogs finished 4-4 on the season and enter the tournament as the East’s #3 seed. Rounding out the women’s bracket will be Alcorn State (6-2) as the #2 East seed squaring off with the West #3 contender Grambling State (3-5).
For the men, Alcorn State and Arkansas-Pine Bluff each earned first round byes as the #1 seeds for the East and West, respectively. The Braves, who are the 2009 defending champions, went 5-2 in the conference to claim the East’s top spot while the Golden Lions posted a perfect 7-0 slate to sit atop the West.
Grambling State clinched the #2 seed in the West with a 5-2 record and will face #3 East seed Alabama State (2-5) in the opening round. Also in first round action for the men will be the East’s #2 seed Jackson State (3-4) battling Prairie View A&M (5-2), who claimed the #3 slot in the West.