Feb. 23, 2007

Altamonte Springs, Fla. - After starting off the season 0-6, the Bethune-Cookman College men's tennis team secured their first victory of the 2007 season with an emphatic 7-0 win over the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore on the second day of the MEAC Round-Up in Altamonte Springs, Fla. B-CC came back in the second match of the day to defeat Howard University, 6-1.

Bethune-Cookman (2-6, 5-1 MEAC) head coach Trey Bogue was looking rough for the past couple of weeks, both mentally and physically as he showed his team unity with his players by not shaving his beard until the men won their first match. Bogue was downtrodden on Thursday as the `Cats dropped a close one to Hampton, 5-2, with all positions having extraordinary tennis involved.

No. 1 singles player Thabani Sithole cruised past the racket of Kishan Sudusinghe (UMES) with scores of 6-0, 6-0 in his first match. Sithole struggled in the second match, but eventually overcame Howard's Faron Carter with scores of 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3. They were the first two wins of the campaign for Sithole who had been working hard all season at the top spot for the Wildcats.

Against UMES, Bethune-Cookman lost just four games altogether, as well as sweeping the doubles point with 8-0 scores throughout. Three of the games won by the Fighting Hawks came at the No. 2 position where B-CC's Jerome Ward fought past Marcus Robinson of UMES, 6-1, 6-2.

In the second match of the day, the `Cats saw a great battle ensue with the Howard Bison.

In the doubles point, B-CC defeated the Bison in straight forms of 8-6, 8-4 and 8-2 for the point sweep.

Back in singles play, the No. 2 position was the only loss of the day for the Wildcats as Howard's Othmane Garma defeated freshman Christian Cruz with a 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 advantage. The Bison were limited to just seven game wins throughout the rest of the match as Jerome Ward won in straight sets (6-2, 6-0), Stefan James knocked off his opponent in straight sets (6-0, 6-1), Yannick Jackson defeated Howard's Stephen-Andre Surjue (6-1, 6-2) and Terry Powell knocked off his man (6-0, 6-1).

The Wildcats will now be back in action tomorrow at the San Lando Tennis Complex in Altamonte Springs, Fla. They will take on Morgan State in a contest scheduled for 1:30 pm.

For more information on this weekend's matches and the MEAC Round-Up, please locate your internet browser to www.MEACsports.com.