RALEIGH, NC –The Shaw University women's tennis team suffered a hard-fought decision to Chowan University to finish runner-up in the 2016 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Women's Tennis Championship by the score of 5-2 at Millbrook Exchange Tennis Center Saturday afternoon.  

All-CIAA Marilyne Kamegne (Yaounde, Cameroon) and Andrijana Martic (Belgrade, Serbia) took one of the Shaw's point with an 8-5 victory at two doubles, but Chowan took the other two doubles matches to get out to an early lead heading into singles. This game CU had an important advantage as the Hawks had won the previous meeting 5-4 in the same scenario.

As singles got underway, Martic picked up the Lady Bears first win at the No. 4 singles with the scores of 6-0, 6-2 before CU took the No. 2 singles 6-2. Simbiat Aleem (Lagos, Nigeria) showed fight and battled hard at the No. 5 singles but CU's Jessica De Backre secured the win after a 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 win to seal the deal for the Hawks.

 
The loss marked the second time this season Shaw (18-3, 12-2 CIAA) suffered a setback to Chowan as the Hawks had previously won the first meeting of the regular season, that snapped nine straight matches during the middle of the season, and the nine matches leading up to the CIAA final. Chowan (25-5, 13-0 CIAA) earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Tennis National Championship with its ninth straight win.

For the most up-to-date information Shaw tennis and its 11 varsity sport teams, visit shawbears.com.