North Carolina Central University

TENNIS

     ETTRICK, VA – North Carolina Central University freshmen Antionette Spain (Charlotte, N.C.) and Emily McQueen (Silver Springs, Md.) entered the 2007 CIAA Women's Tennis Championships on the campus of Virginia State University in Ettrick, Va., as the sixth-ranked No. 3 doubles team in the conference. By the end of play on Wednesday (April 18), the Lady Eagle duo posted a pair of upset victories before losing in the championship match to place second and earn All-CIAA honors. 
     Spain and McQueen opened the day with an 8-5 win over No. 3-seed Morgan Ray and Celeste Trahan of Elizabeth City State University. They then knocked off No. 2-seed Jocelyn Braswell and Janae Johnson of Virginia State University by a score of 8-6. 
     The top-seeded Arie Bennett and Contessa Sanchez of Fayetteville State University proved to be too much to handle in the conference championship match as Spain and McQueen's upset run ended with an 8-1 loss. Still, Spain and McQueen picked up the No. 3 doubles CIAA runners-up hardware.
     The best NCCU performance on the men's side came from the No. 1 doubles team of sophomore transfer Andres Perez (Santiago, Chile) and senior Ashley Stout (Lanton, Calif.). The Eagles tandem entered the tournament field a No. 4 seed and won their first match 8-2 over Virginia Union. Perez and Stout then lost 8-3 to the eventual champions Ibukun Ilesanmi and Daniel Sabogal of Shaw University, but responded with an 8-3 victory over Virginia State's Yusuf House and Travis Jones to placed third and receive All-CIAA recognition.
     In other action, sophomore John Stephenson (Fayetteville, N.C.) and freshman Stephen Allsop (Beltsville, Md.) finished fourth in No. 3 men's doubles, senior Johnelle Ligons (Winston-Salem, N.C.) and junior Ambra Mason (Grand Rapids, Mich.) placed fifth in No. 1 women's doubles, and sophomore Comesha Hickman (Greenville, N.C.) and senior Siobhan Greene (Apex, N.C.) finished eighth.
     Singles competition will begin Thursday (April 19) on the campus of Virginia State starting at 9 a.m.

Women's No. 1 Doubles
Lee/Lewis (JSCU) def. Lions/Mason (NCCU) (8-2)
Lions/Mason def. Brown-Niles/Green (BSU) (8-3)
Lions/Mason def. Chapel/Staten (LC) (8-3) 5th Place

Women's No. 2 Doubles
Watson/Lee (FSU) def. Hickman/Green (NCCU) (8-3)
Laws/Shoecraft (JCSU) def. Hickman/Green (8-2)
Moore/Steele (SU) def Hickman/Green (9-7) 8th Place

Women's No. 3 Doubles
McQueen/Spain (NCCU) def. Ray/Trahan (ECSU) (8-5)
McQueen/Spain def. Braswell/Johnson (VSU) (8-6)
Bennett/Sanchez (FSU) def. McQueen/Spain (8-1)

Men's No. 1 Doubles
Perez/Stout (NCCU) def. Davis/Motley (VUU) (8-2)
llesanmi/Sabogal (SU) def. Perez/Stout (8-3)
Perez/Stout def. House/Jones (VSU) (8-2)

Men's No. 2 Doubles
Hill/Wilson (SAC) def. Byrd/Estevez (NCCU)

Men's No. 3 Doubles
Stephenson/Allsop (NCCU) def. Felder/Ruffin (SAC) (8-4)
Burton/McKoy (JCSU) def. Stephenson/Allsop (8-4)
Ameh/Leigh (SU) def. Stephenson/Allsop (8-4) 4th Place