The Golden Bulls men's tennis team earns CIAA Runner-up honors after coming short in the finals.
Results
Petersburg, VA – The Johnson C. Smith University men's tennis team were tripped up 5-0 by Shaw University in the 2010 CIAA Championships on Saturday afternoon (April 17th) at the Virginia State Tennis Complex. The Golden Bulls complete their season at 20-6 overall and 9-3 in the conference.
Shaw was attempting to earn their sixth straight CIAA championship this year. Johnson C. Smith is the only other tennis program to accomplish this feat, winning titles from 1999-2004.
J.C. Smith trailed 3-0 after doubles action heading into singles play. CIAA Player of the Year Fabio Falcato and All-CIAA selection Medhi Ben-Cheikh defeated the fellow all conference, senior duo of
Jason Stuckey (Cincinnati, OH) and
Aaron Hutcherson (Cincinnati, OH) 8-3 in No. 1 doubles. Kalada Kienka and Milos Stankovic got past sophomores
Robert Butts (Atlanta, GA) and
McKenzie Bean (Hamilton, Bermuda) 8-1 in the No. 2 doubles match.
Junior
Barren Smith (Linwood, NJ) and sophomore
Jerald Stuckey (Cincinnati, OH) fought hard but the duo of Martin Faison and Antoine Jacobs made a doubles sweep for Shaw with an 8-4 victory in the third and final doubles competition.
Only needing five match points to clutch the title, Stankovic and Kienka closed the deal for Shaw with a win in No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively. The remaining singles competitions went unfinished.
Shaw won the previous five titles under the individual flight format and wins this year's crown under the new team bracket format.
The Golden Bulls took a step closer towards the mountain top this season. Last year's order of finish had Virginia State second and JCSU third. J.C. Smith turned the tables and concludes the season as the CIAA Runner-ups. However, Johnson C. Smith will lose the dynamic No. 1 doubles pair of Stuckey and Hutcherson (both graduating seniors).
