Ettrick, VA – The Virginia State Women's Tennis team will take on Virginia Union (4-4), Elizabeth City State (2-9), Shaw (13-3) and Bowie State (6-3) over the next four days to close regular season play. The four-day run will start at home, as the Trojans is set to compete against Virginia Union at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. on Friday. The Lady Vikings of Elizabeth City State will make the trip to the 804 for a doubleheader starting at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. On Sunday, the Trojans will head down to Raleigh, NC for a date with Shaw starting at 4:00 p.m. VSU will wrap up their regular season in a doubleheader against Bowie State starting at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
Virginia State (4-1, 4-1 CIAA, 2-0 Division) is coming off a 4-0 victory against Winston-Salem State in their first match of the month of April. VSU got off to a fast start, claiming 2-of-2 doubles.
Ashleigh Charles and
Ginger Johnson won their pro-set 8-2 on the first doubles court.
Zimaris Smith and
Jayce Gaither took their match by an identical score of 8-2 on the second doubles court.
Ashleigh Charles completely dominated her matchup winning 6-0, 6-1 on the first court while
Jayce Gaither took her match 6-1, 6-0 on the third court.
Zimaris Smith is undefeated on the season with a record of 4-0 on the fourth singles court.
Jayce Gaither is 4-1 on the third singles court.
Zimaris Smith and
Jayce Gaither are 4-1 on the second doubles court while
Ashleigh Charles and
Ginger Johnson stand tall at 4-1 as well on the first doubles court.
Virginia Union is riding high fresh off a sweep against ECSU. The Panthers went 2-2 in the CIAA Tennis Round-Up boasting wins over WSSU and LC. The Trojans beat the Panthers 5-3 to open the 2022 season. VUU is 2-0 in road matches this season. The Trojans are a healthy 23-1 against VUU in matchups dating back to 2010. VSU is 9-1 in the last 10 matchups against the Panthers and look to improve upon their 14-1 home record against their cross-town rivals.
Elizabeth City State will look to snap their six-match losing streak. Their last victory for the Lady Vikings was back in March when they beat WSSU 4-3. ECSU ended the CIAA Tennis Round-Up going 2-2 after beating LC and WSSU. ECSU was shut out in five matches this season. The squad is led by Andrea Nevola who is currently 5-2 on the first singles court and looks to stretch her current winning streak to five matches. Nevola is a part of the best doubles team on the squad as well with Juelle St. Clair going 5-4 in the season.
The Trojans will look to take down the conference leaders in Shaw, as the Lady Bears are still unbeaten in CIAA play with an 8-0 record. Shaw has not lost a match since March and currently boast a win streak of six matches with four shutouts. The Lady Bears went 4-0 with three shutouts in the CIAA Tennis Round-Up. The Trojans are 1-13 against Shaw in matchups dating back to 2010. The one and only win for the Trojans came back in 2014 when they beat Shaw 5-1. VSU looks to do away with their current seven-game losing streak against the Lady Bears.
Bowie State is only one match in front of the Trojans for the first spot in the Northern Division. BSU has won five of the last six matches, as they are fresh off a clean sweep over ECSU. The Bulldogs have won their last 13 sets over three matches. Afruica Gentle is currently undefeated on the first singles court as she boasts a 5-0 record. Tamia Byrom is extremely hot this season too as she is 6-1 going 2-0 on the third court and 4-1 on the fourth court. Kayla Mason and Afruica Gentle leads in doubles with a 5-1 record on the first court. The tandem have won five straight doubles matches to this point in the season.
The Trojans will host the CIAA Tennis Championship from Thursday, April 28 – Saturday, April 30.
