VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Three Hampton University tennis players have been named to the 2010 All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) First Team, as announced by the conference office on Wednesday. The awards were voted on by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
Junior Jovanna Sangria (Long Beach, Calif.) earned First Team All-MEAC honors on the women's side after going 11-5 on the season in singles play and 3-2 in conference play. She was also a combined 7-5 in doubles play and 4-0 in MEAC action.
Sangria went 8-2 in her last 10 singles matches.
Sophomore Nelio Mattos (Ribeirao Preto, Brazil) and junior Gellert Varga (Becej, Serbia) earned First Team All-MEAC honors on the men's side. Mattos was named First Team All-MEAC for the second straight year after finishing the regular season after going 8-6 in singles play and a perfect 5-0 in MEAC play. The 2009 MEAC Rookie of the Year was also a combined 8-3 in doubles play.
Varga, who as a freshman in 2008 was a Second Team All-MEAC selection, earned First Team honors after leading the Pirates with an 11-2 overall singles record, going a perfect 4-0 against MEAC competition. Varga also went 7-3 in doubles play as the Pirates went 10-5 on the season, locking up the MEAC Northern Division's top seed with a 5-0 mark.
Varga ended the regular season on a nine-match winning streak.
Senior Na-Hyun Baek (Seoul, Korea), the 2009 MEAC Player of the Year, earned Second Team All-MEAC honors after going 8-4 overall in singles play and 4-1 in conference competition. She was also 7-2 in doubles action.
Freshman Alvin Fludd (Washington, D.C.) was also named Second Team All-MEAC after going 10-5 in singles play for the Pirates, including a perfect 5-0 MEAC record. He was also a combined 7-5 in doubles competition.
On the women's side, Howard's Michelle Brown was named the MEAC Player of the Year, while the Lady Bison's Larry Strickland was named Coach of the Year and Brown's teammate Brittney Morgan was named MEAC Rookie of the Year.
Florida A&M swept the men's awards, with David Jackson taking Player of the Year honors, Dr. Carl Goodman being named MEAC Coach of the Year and Takura Happy earning Rookie of the Year accolades.
The Pirates and Lady Pirates will compete in the 2010 MEAC Championships this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Millbrook Tennis Center in Raleigh, N.C. The Pirates will open play at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, when they take on Norfolk State, while the No. 2 seed Lady Pirates (8-8, 4-1 MEAC) will open play at 8:30 a.m. on Friday against Bethune-Cookman.
For more information on Hampton University tennis, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.
