Shaw Claims 2019 CIAA Women’s Tennis Championship with a 4-1 Win Over Johnson C. Smith
BOWIE, MD – For the third season in a row, the Shaw Lady Bears (17-9) claimed the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Women’s Tennis Championship. The team earned the 2019 championship when they took a hard-fought win over the Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls (15-12). With a match that featured the two top teams in the CIAA from the regular season, there was no shortage of great play and strong competition in the match.
The match was a thrilling one with a lot of high-level competition as the two top seeds from the tournament met for the conference title. “We lost to them in the regular season and I told my team that when it counts and the, “Shaw head coach Sunday Enitan. “We played hard all season and they’re our rivals now so we have to bring the ‘A’ game whenever we play them.”
The match was an exciting one from the very beginning with some thrilling doubles matches. The Lady Bears struck first with a 6-4 win at #2 doubles by Teodora Jovanovic and Helena Fekete that was followed by a thrilling hard-fought 7-5 win at #1 doubles by the duo of Carmen Mantecon and Siria Dibe that clinched the first point of the match for the Lady Bears.
From there, the match went into some exciting singles play. Johnson C. Smith would not go away silently, as Hallie Parkier claimed a 6-0, 6-1 win at #1 singles to tie the match 1-1. The CIAA Player of the Year came through for the Lady Bears to put the team back on top, 2-1 when she took a 6-0, 6-0 win at #2 singles. The Lady Bears began to pull away when the team got a 6-0, 6-1 win at #6 singles from Eva Ostermeier. The wrapped things up with a 6-1, 6-X win at #3 singles from Siria Dibe to claim the 4-1 win and the 2019 CIAA Women’s Tennis Championship.
The championship is the third in a row for the Lady Bears who lost just one point in the entire tournament. It was also the fifth straight appearance in the CIAA Women’s Tennis Championship finals for the Lady Bears. With the win, the Shaw Lady Bears will now take an automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Tournament.
For more information on CIAA Women’s Tennis, log on to www.TheCIAA.com.