MEAC Announces Weekly Tennis Honors, presented by Coca-Cola
NORFOLK, Va., Mar. 28, 2024 — North Carolina Central Junior Hugo Hidalgo Vega was named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Men’s Tennis Player of the Week, presented by Coca-Cola. Norfolk State freshman Deniz Okyay was named Men’s Rookie of the Week. Norfolk State Senior Gabriela Davidescu was named Women’s Tennis Player of the Week, while Howard freshman Imani Jean was named Women’s Rookie of the Week.
Hidalgo Vega (Sr., Madrid, Spain) ended the MEAC Round-up with his seventh straight singles victory. To open conference play, Hidalgo Vega swept all opponents at No.1 singles in two sets with wins against Coppin State (6-2, 6-0), Morgan State (7-6, 7-5) and Howard (6-1, 6-0) helping N.C. Central go undefeated on the weekend. He also was a part of two No. 1 doubles victories with teammate Leo Fortier-Gariepy against Coppin State and Howard.
Okyay (Fr., Ankara, Turkey) won a total of four matches during MEAC Round-ups. He defeated No 3. singles opponents against both Coppin State and Howard in two sets. He strung together two doubles wins against Coppin State and Morgan State, both with a final score of 6-4.
Davidescu (Sr., Ploiesti, Romania) tallied five straight wins at No. 1 singles for the week. During MEAC Roundups, she defeated Coppin State (6-4, 6-1), Morgan State (6-3, 6-2), Delaware State (1-6, 6-4, 6-3), and Howard (6-4, 6-7, 1-0). Her first singles match against Howard’s Sifa Butcher involved two tiebreaker sets. Davidescu dropped the second tiebreaker, 7-4, to loose the set 7-6 forcing a three set ten point tiebreaker, where she came back and won 10-5 to take the third set. Davidescu also was apart of a No. 2 doubles win against Coppin State.
Jean (Fr., Brooklyn, NY) went a perfect 3-0 in singles play with victories against South Carolina State (6-0, 6-3), North Carolina Central (6-1), and Norfolk State (6-4,6-1). In doubles play, she went 2-1 with teammate Nadia Pegram.
Other Top Performers
Nadia Pegram (Howard) went a perfect 3-0 in singles play while going 2-1 in doubles play with teammate Imani Jean.
Justin Cadeau (Howard) went 2-1 in singles play, winning a pair of three-set matches while also 2-1 in doubles competition with Michael Major, Jr.
Alejandra Hidalgo Vega (North Carolina Central) went 3-1 in singles and 4-0 in doubles during the MEAC Round-up.
Lucas Artigas (North Carolina Central) won all three of his singles matches at the MEAC Round-ups helping NCCU defeat Coppin State, Morgan State and Howard.
Fred McRae (Norfolk State) won seven straight singles matches for the week, with four wins at No. 1 singles.
Irena Ioana Iurea (Norfolk State) won at No. 3 singles against Coppin State and No. 1 doubles against Hofstra.
Kenyange Kaounde (Coppin State) defeated her No. 2 singles opponent from Norfolk State in three sets, for the only point for the Eagles in MEAC Roundups.
Vansh Kapoor (Coppin State) gave the Coppin State men’s team their only singles victory in MEAC Roundups with a two-set win at No. 2 singles against Norfolk State.
