The Howard University women’s tennis team will open play on Friday when it takes on
Bethune Cookman at 8:30 am in the opening round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tennis Championships at the Millbrook Tennis Center in Raleigh, NC.

The Lady Bison enter the tournament as the Number 3 seed in the Northern Division. The Lady Wildcats are the Number 2 seed from the Southern Division.

Howard has struggled down the stretch due to some nagging injuries but head coach Larry
Strickland is optimistic about the team’s chances. Howard won the Northern Division last season, but lost to South Carolina State in the championship.

“It’s going to be tough and take a lot of hard work for us to have a chance,” said Strickland, the 2011 MEAC Coach of the Year. “The field is a whole lot stronger than it has been in the past. We have the players who are capable of winning it, but everyone has to play well. It is tall task.”

The Lady Bison are tournament tested as they return sophomore Katelyn Stokes, a 2011 first
team all-conference selection last year and sophomore Brooke Hawthorne and junior Brittney Morgan, who were named to the all-MEAC second team.

If the Lady Bison win, they will take on the winner of the quarterfinal round between North
Carolina Central, the Number 3 seed in the Southern Division and Hampton, the Number 2 seed in the Northern Division. The semifinal is scheduled for Saturday, April 14 at 8:30 am and the championship is
Sunday at 9 am.

On another note, Howard placed eight student athletes to the 2012 Tennis All-Academic team: Anne Akhimien, Michelle Brown, Hawthorne and Morgan represented the women’s team while Khyrie Alleyene, Brandon Burns, Eric Chavous and Devard Wharton were selected to the men’s team.

The honorees were chosen based on a 3.0 or better cumulative grade point average and they have to be either a sophomore, junior or senior.