Collegiate tennis players Kevaughn Ferguson and Brezile Hamilton recently "served up a couple of aces" which boosted their respective schools up the national rankings.
Hamilton led the Graceland University Yellow Jackets to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Tennis Championships, while Ferguson swung his way into the history books for the Prairie State Pioneers. Ferguson is the number one singles player for the college in Chicago Heights, Illinois. The freshman led the Pioneers to their first Skyway Conference title, with a 6-0 win/loss record this season.
Ferguson was undefeated up until the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region IV tournament, currently ongoing in Plano, Texas. He opened up against Caio Gomes of Laredo Community College, who took the match 6-1 and 6-2. In doubles, Ferguson partnered with Jack Schumann, and they lost in the first round to Jack Busby and Josh Coleman, 6-0 and 6-1.
"We worked really hard all year," Prairie State coach Patrick Reichard said in a press release yesterday. "It was our goal all year (to win the regional), and we were all elated when we did it. Our top three singles players pushed our 4-5-6 guys all year and got them ready for this. Our 4-5-6 guys really stepped up and played some clutch tennis when we needed it the most."
Over at the NAIA Championships, Hamilton and the Yellow Jackets were eliminated in the second round. The team play competition lined Graceland up against Northwood University in the first round. Hamilton played the sixth match and defeated Diego Ortega, 6-4 and 6-2. He and Rodolfo Sanchez teamed up for doubles and sent David Cathalina and Niktia Borodatov packing. The Yellow Jackets defeated Northwood University, 7-2, closing the first round of play with a score of 13-6.
In round two, the Yellow Jackets played Auburn Montgomery who defeated them 5-0. Hamilton drew Othmane Lalami and fell, 6-3 and 6-1. Over in the doubles, Lalami and Josh Reason defeated Hamilton and Sanchez. The final scores in that round were the Yellow Jackets 15-7 and Auburn Montgomery 19-3.
In other tennis news, Kevin Major Jr. is into the third round of the Delray Beach Tennis Tournament. Major Jr. will play Jordan Belga today.
Major Jr. is one of five Bahamian junior tennis players taking part in the International Tennis Federation's (ITF) grade four tournament. Justin Roberts fell in the opening round, 6-4, 6-7 (4) and 6-2 to Jean Thirouin. Zandriz Acob eliminated Rasheed Carey, 6-2 and 6-3, and Aron Pierce sent Shaquille Taylor packing, 2-6, 6-3 and 6-4.
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