Home|Sports|Bain defends ITA titleSports
Simba FrenchSend an emailOctober 18, 2022 208 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
Bahamian collegiate tennis player Jacobi Bain successfully defended his title at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) consolation bracket, on Saturday in the ITA Cup Tennis Championships at the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College in Rome, Georgia.
The Xavier University of Louisiana player went up against the 27th ranked NAIA player, Soufiane El Meshabi from Keiser University. To get here, Bain defeated Daniel Vishnick from Cardinal Stritch 6-2 and 6-1 in the first round. Saturday saw him taking down El Mesbahi in two sets. Bain was victorious with a 6-2 and 7-5 scoreline.
Bain lost in the main draw quarterfinals to Georgia Gwinnett’s number-two seed, Alex Gurmendi. He lost 4-6 and 3-6.
Next on the calendar for Bain and his team is a stop in New Orleans at the Dillard Invitational on October 28-29.
In the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I ITA Southern Regional, the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers’ Sydney Clarke was eliminated in the 32nd round in the singles on Saturday. Clarke and her teammate Maggie White made it to the quarterfinals of the doubles, but did not get any further.
In the singles, Clarke went up against Jackson State University’s Anna Syrova. The match needed three sets to determine a winner. Clarke lost the first set 1-6 before bouncing back in the second set to win 6-4. In the third set, Clarke was unable to take down Syrova, as the Bahamian lost 3-6.
It was a close battle in the doubles, as Clarke and White went against Mississippi State University’s Emmanouela Antonaki and Gia Cohen. The Blazers duo fell 7-8.
Clarke returns to action in the Roberta Allison Fall Classic, set for October 28-30 at the University of Alabama’s Alabama Tennis Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
In action on Sunday was national team member Elana Mackey. She and her Mars Hill University Lions took on Converse University, but fell 3-4 in a close battle.
Playing at home at the Hart Tennis Complex, Mackey and doubles partner Amanda Kadiri took down Tonya Glogowski-Watson 6-3 to help the Lions secure the doubles point. Mackey then played at the number one singles slot and took down the Valkyries’ Glogowski-Watson in two straight sets, 6-1 and 6-4. However, the visitors won four of the six singles matches to win the matchup 4-3.
This was the end of the Lions’ fall portion of the season, as they head into the winter season with a 4-1 record. The winter season gets underway on February 10 against Belmont Abbey College.