| The North Carolina A&T tennis programs took freshmen and sophomores to Elon and Atlanta recently, and proved they are developing well as the 2016 regular season approaches. The Aggies won several matches at Elon and sophomore Khalia Powell advanced to the championship match at the HBCU National Tennis Championships in Atlanta, earning the tournament victory in singles.
“This year Powell’s game has improved, and I think it is because I brought in a freshman that’s really good,” said head coach Richard Akande referring to Sheyla Rameriz. “It kind of changed her way of practicing. Ramirez improved her game because she gave her somebody to compete against in practice and it gave her someone to relate to.”
Rameriz did show off her potential at Elon to kick off the fall season, Sept. 11-13. Rameriz advanced past UNC Greensboro’s Blaine Boaz in two sets, 7-6(4) and 6-2. Rameriz was defeated by Elon’s Maria Paraja 6-0, 6-2 in the subsequent round. Also advancing was sophomore Nadia Hilton-Adams. She defeated Liberty’s Audrey Brown 6-3, 6-3, but was defeated in her next match by Emory’s Paula Castro 6-1, 6-0.
In Atlanta, Akande noted the differences between how the women played at Elon. “They did much better at the championship than they did at Elon,” Akande said. “The team did a much better job of listening and accepting coaching.”
The women’s tennis team had two singles players and one doubles team advance to the semifinals in Atlanta. Freshman Angelica Ochoe advanced to the semifinals by defeating Tuskegee’s Taylor Wilson 8-2. Powell’s advancement into the semis came at the expense of Texas Southern’s Pragait Natraj 7-6, 6-1. Ochoe bowed out of the tournament with a semifinal loss to TSU’s Phylicia Hemphill 8-2, but Powell advanced to the finals with a win Shantal Blackwood of Florida A&M in an entertaining 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 match.
Powell won the event by beating Howard’s Jessica Josiah in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1. Powell also had a semifinal appearance in doubles alongside Ramirez. The Aggies defeated the Hampton duo of Cherise Slocombe and Marusa Mitaishvili 8-6 before losing to Howard’s Stacey Roheman and Josiah 8-4.
On the men’s side, Dreshaun Jarmon played well. He advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Peter Odegbami, from Hampton University, in two sets. Teammates John Wilson IV and George Tojeda also made it to the quarters, but all three gentlemen were defeated in the quarterfinal matchups. The Aggies doubles teams also were eliminated in the quarters. Jarmon and Wilson lost to Karan Salwan and Tushar Mandlekar while Brett Cobert and Tojeda lost to Adam Albrecht and Manay Chakma 8-3.
“This is the first time since 2005 that the tennis team has won something at A&T,” said Akande. “They did really, really well. I’m really proud of the kids. This was a good win and everybody’s really, really excited about it.” |
