ALEXANDRIA, La. – Southern maintained its stronghold on the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Women’s Tennis Championship with a 4-3 win over Alcorn State in Sunday’s title match at Alexandria City Park Tennis Complex.
The SWAC title was the second straight and the sixth in nine years for the Lady Jaguars.
After capturing the doubles point, Southern put the match away with singles wins from Demetria Woods at No. 3, Jo’Vonna Gaines at No. 5 and Lois Alexis at No. 6.
But the Lady Braves pushed the Jaguars hard. Daria Rudd won No. 4 singles for Alcorn State and Arielle Buchmann had a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles. The Braves tied the match at 3-3 when Kersten Vanem took down SWAC Player of the Year Carlista Mohammed at No. 1 singles, 6-3, 6-3. Woods’ 7-5, 6-1 win over Merilin Tipp required an extra point in the first set.
Southern will now await its seeding for the NCAA Tournament when pairings are announced May 3.
Results:
(W1) Southern 4, (E1) Alcorn State 3
April 17, 2011 at Alexandria, La.
Doubles Competition
1. Carlista Mohammed/Jo’Vonna Gaines (SU) def. Daria Rudd/Chan Rutherford (ALCN) 8-6
2. Kathryn Curtis/Lois Alexis (SU) def. Kersten Vanem/Merilin Tipp (ALCN) 8-2
3. Arielle Buchmann/Katherine Hoepelman (ALCN) vs. Demetria Woods/Lisbeth Castaneda (SU) 6-4 DNF
Singles Competition
1. Kersten Vanem (ALCN) def. Carlista Mohammed (SU) – 6-3, 6-3
2. Arielle Buchmann (ALCN) def. Kathryn Curtis (SU) 6-3, 6-2
3. Demetria Woods (SU) def. Merilin Tipp (ALCN), 7-5, 6-1
4. Daria Rudd (ALCN) def. Lisbeth Castaneda (SU) 6-1, 6-0
5. Jo’Vonna Gaines (SU) def. Katherine Hoepelman (ALCN) 6-3, 6-2
6. Lois Alexis (SU) def. Chan Rutherford (ALCN) 6-2, 6-0
All-Tournament Team
(Determined by records during tournament play)
Southern: Jo’Vonna Gaines (MVP)
Southern: Lois Lexis
Alcorn State: Kersten Vanem
Alcorn State: Arielle Buchmann
Prairie View A&M: Brittany Harrell
Jackson State: Kesica Jayaoalan
Coach of the Year: Jeff Conyers, Southern
