JONESBORO, Ga. – Taylor Lefridge won the consolation championship of the Women's Singles A Bracket to highlight the Prairie View A&M women's tennis team's play at the HBCU National Tennis Championships this past weekend.
Lefridge, the No. 9 seed in the Singles A Bracket, dropped a hard-fought, three-set match to Laura Syori of Southern by scores of 3-6, 6-2, and 10-8 to fall into the consolation round. From there, she breezed her way to three wins and the consolation championship.
Lefridge defeated Shantal Blackwood of Florida A&M 8-2, then won by default in the consolation semifinals. In the championship, she defeated Siobhan Ryan-Bovey of Alcorn State 8-3.
Ryan-Bovey went 1-1 against PVAMU players in the consolation round, as she defeated Eugenia Gwodog en route to the match with Lefridge. Gwodog had defeated Joy Jones of Grambling 8-4 to set up the match with Ryan Bovey.
OTHER PVAMU HIGHLIGHTSSydney Thomas and Tatiana Ruhl both won their opening matches in the main brackets. Thomas defeated Gislaine Farias (Shaw University) by scores of 6-4, 4-6, and 10-5 in the opening round of the Singles B bracket.
In Singles C action, Ruhl defeated Crystal Horn (Howard University) 6-1, 6-2 before succumbing to eventual semifinalist Kate Potapova 6-2, and 6-0.
Also in the C bracket, Stacey Lackey defeated three opponents in the consolation half of the bracket to reach the consolation championship. She dropped a close 8-6 decision to Sha'nel Bruns of Xavier (La.) for the consolation title.
In Women's A Doubles action, Lefridge and Lackey won their opening match in convincing fashion over higher-seeded Tuskegee duo Navilla Paul and Kimberley Bowen. The PVAMU tandem cruised to an 8-0 win. In the second round, Lefridge and Lackey fell to the bracket's No. 1 seed Stacey Roheman and Umarah Mughnee of Howard 8-6.
