• Official MEC Press Release

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – The West Virginia State University women's tennis team (7-6, 4-2 MEC) was announced as the No. 3 seed in the 2023 Mountain East Conference Tournament on Sunday night. The Yellow Jackets will be paired with No. 2-seeded West Liberty (11-6, 5-1 MEC) in the semifinals on Saturday, April 22nd.

The MEC Tournament will be played at Schoenbaum Tennis Courts in Charleston. The semifinals begin at 9:30 a.m. with No. 1-seeded Charleston (18-1, 6-0 MEC) taking on No. 4-seeded Fairmont State (13-5, 3-3 MEC). The Yellow Jackets and Hilltoppers are scheduled to play at noon. The finals will take place on Sunday, April 23 at noon.

West Virginia State was edged by West Liberty, 4-3, when the two teams met during the regular season. The Hilltoppers hosted the match and won the doubles point along with the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 6 singles pairings. Freshman Amanda Menendez Thomasson and graduate student Chante Malo cruised to victory at No. 3 and No. 4 singles, respectively. Senior Emily Moore came out on top at No. 5 singles by winning a tiebreaker in the second set and going on to claim the third set easily.

WVSU advanced to the MEC Championship finals last season by defeating West Liberty, 4-1, in the semifinals. The Yellow Jackets were then defeated, 4-2, in the finals by the Golden Eagles. State avenged that defeat by beating UC, 4-3, in the NCAA Atlantic Region No. 2 finals and advancing to the Sweet 16. 

WVSU is currently ranked fifth in the Atlantic Region by the NCAA. Meanwhile, West Liberty is ranked fourth in the region. Seven teams from the Atlantic Region will qualify for the NCAA Tournament with the winners of the MEC, PSAC and CIAA Tournaments receiving automatic bids.