ATLANTA—Day three of the 2012 SIAC Men’s Tennis Championship was the championship round which featured the Fort Valley State Wildcats and the Stillman Tigers. Prior to the championship match, the men’s teams from Morehouse College and Benedict College tangled to decide the third place finisher.
Men’s Third Place Match:
#4 Morehouse College def. #3 Benedict College (5-3)
The Maroon Tigers of Morehouse College (MHC) finished third in the conference tournament after a 5-3 win over the Tigers of Benedict College (BC). Two wins in doubles play gave MHC the edge before singles play started.
Michael Cutrer and Michael Thomas combined to defeat the BC team of Darreus Wheeler and Giovanni Plater (8-7 (9-7)) while the MHC team of Noah Terry and Chris Hawthorne downed Timothy Thornton and Devongelo Crawford (8-4). BC got its only doubles win when Zibusiso Ndimande and Shane Latchman defeated Dewayne Dixon and Kahai Hall (8-2).
In singles, the MHC win was solidified as Hall defeated Plater (6-0, 6-3); Thomas edged Thornton (6-3, 6-3); and Terry defeated DeAngelo Smith (6-0, 6-1). BC got single wins from Ndimande over Cutrer (6-2, 6-2) and Latchamn over Dixon (4-6, 6-2, 6-3).
Men’s Championship Match:
#1 Fort Valley State University def. #2 Stillman College (5-4)
The Wildcats of Fort Valley State University (FVSU) are the 2012 SIAC Tennis Champions after defeating the Tigers of Stillman College (SC) in the title match. After winning two of the three doubles matches, the Wildcats scrambled in singles play by winning four of the six matches to claim the crown.
The FVSU team of Terrance Jenkins and Brandon Pringle defeated SC’s David Torres and Alexsandar Zobec in doubles, 8-6. The Wildcats also got a doubles victory when Nick Hernandez and Dwayne White combined for a 8-4 win over Felipe Farias and Jose Pojasi. The Tigers won the doubles match in which Santiago Robles and Jelffrey Farias downed FVSU’s Kelvin Oliver and Joshua Turner.
SC won the first singles match when David Torres defeated FVSU’s Terrance Jenkins who suffered cramps and had to retire (7-6 (8-6), Retired). The Tigers notched their second win in singles when Zobec beat Turner (6-0, 6-3).
FVSU got its first singles win when Hernandez defeated Felipe Farias in straight sets (6-3, 7-5). The second Wildcat came when Oliver downed Pojasi (6-3, 6-0).
The Tigers responded with a three-set win by Robles over White (6-7, 7-6, 6-3). With that win, the championship came down to the singles match between FVSU’s Pringle and SC’s Jelffrey Farias. Tied four games each in the third and final set, Pringle held serve to take a 5-4 advantage. After Jelffrey held, the set was back even a 5-5. On Pringles’ next serve, Farias broke and took a 6-5 lead but suffered a cramp after doing so. On his serve, Farias was unable to hold as Pringle forced a tiebreak. With Farias hobbled, Pringle won the tiebreak 7-5 and with that FVSU won the championship.
2012 SIAC Men’s Tennis All-Tournament Team
Singles
Zibusiso Ndimande Benedict College
Noah Terry, Morehouse College
Terrance Jenkins, Fort Valley State University
Dwayne White, Fort Valley State University
David Torres, Stillman College
Santiago Robles, Stillman College
Doubles
Michael Cutrer & Michael Thomas, Morehouse College
Terrance Jenkins & Brandon Pringle, Fort Valley State University
David Torres & Aleksandar Zobec Stillman College
Tournament MVP: Brandon Pringle, Fort Valley State University
Most Outstanding Coach: Willie Foster, Fort Valley State University
3rd Place: Morehouse College
Runner-up: Stillman College
2012 SIAC Champions: Fort Valley State University