"What a great win for this program and these men," Head Coach Anuk Christiansz said.  "Just like the women earlier today, the men played an outstanding match against a Prairie View team that is used to winning championships.  I thought the men did a great job of fighting through cramps brought on by the heat and just hung in there."
 
ASU led 1-0 heading into singles play, but SWAC Player of the Year Jackson Varney evened the score at one with his win at one singles.
 
That lead did not last long as Jarred Thompson gave the Hornets the lead back literally seconds later with is 6-4, 6-3 win at five singles.  Even though it did get scary the Hornets would not trail again.
 
Ronald Mataba put ASU up 3-1 with his three-set, 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 win at two singles, but Adam Coyne, who finally went down due to cramps had to retire.  He won the first set 6-3, but after becoming sick and full of body cramps, he had to retire handing PVAMU their second and final point.
 
From there the match came down to three and six singles.  Takura Mlambo had battled back from a 4-6 setback in his first set to win the second 6-4.  He was up 1-0 in the third set when Vojnic's heroics ended the match.
 
Vojnic actually jumped out quick in his match winning the first set 6-1, but PVAMU's David Aldaz battled back to win the second set 6-3 and actually led 4-2 in the third set.  From there Vojnic found his rhythm and on the back of two service breaks was able to win the final four games for the third set winner.
 
"It really was a tense moment there at the end," Christiansz said.  "After losing Adam who we thought was on his way to a win, Tak and Stefan had to come through and both players picked up their play.  Stefan did an incredible job of fighting through that third set and pulling out the win."
 
Knowing how the entire match would go started in doubles play.  PVAMU took a quick 1-0 lead in doubles with an 8-3 win at one.  The ASU duo of Ronald Mataba and Adam Coyne built a 5-0 lead at two doubles only to see PVAMU win three consecutive games to cut the lead 5-3.  From there Mataba and Coyne won the final three games for an 8-3 win and tying the doubles results at one.
 
It came down to three doubles which took almost an hour and 20 minutes to finish.  ASU's team of Digivijay Naruka and Taruk Mlambo built a 3-0 lead, but just like in two, PVAMU came back to even the score at five before the Hornets would win the final three games for an 8-5 win and the doubles point.
 
The Hornets will now face top-seeded Alcorn State for the conference title tomorrow (Sunday) April 27 at 1 p.m.  The match will be played at City Park Pepsi Tennis Facility in New Orleans. The winner of the championship will receive the SWAC's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Alabama State University 4, Prairie View A&M 2
Apr 26, 2014 at New Orleans, La. (City Park Pepsi Tennis Center)

Singles competition

1. Jackson Varney (PVAMU) def. Dylan Cleary (ALST) 6-2, 6-1

2. Ronald Mataba (ALST) def. Resake Gbadamos (PVAMU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-0

3. Takura Mlambo (ALST) vs. Bruno Snyder (PVAMU) 4-6, 6-4, unfinished

4. Daniel Vasquez (PVAMU) def. Adam Coyne (ALST) 3-6, 6-0, retired

5. Jarred Thompson (ALST) def. Jonathan Dingle (PVAMU) 6-4, 6-3

6. Stefan Vojnic (ALST) def. David Aldaz (PVAMU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4

 

Doubles competition

1. Jackson Varney/Resake Gbadamos (PVAMU) def. Dylan Cleary/Jarred Thompson (ALST) 8-3

2. Ronald Mataba/Adam Coyne (ALST) def. Bruno Snyder/Daniel Vasquez (PVAMU) 8-3

3. Digvijay Naruka/Takura Mlambo (ALST) def. David Aldaz/Carlos McIntyre (PVAMU) 8-5

 

Match Notes

Prairie View A&M 4-12

Alabama State University 8-12

Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,4,5,2,6)

T-3:30 A-65