Jelani Scott | Sports Editor
The Hampton University tennis program is set to begin the 2016 season on February 19 when the men take on James Madison University in Newport News, Virginia at the Centre Court Racquet Club at 7 p.m.
The following day, the women will play Delaware State in Dover, Delaware at 3 p.m.
Prior to the start of the season, the conference’s head tennis coaches and sports information directors released their preseason rankings and decided that the Lady Pirates would finish fourth in the northern divsion.
On the men’s side, Hampton earned two first-place votes but came in second in the northern division behind Morgan State, who had 14 first-place votes.
In September, both teams competed in their first tune-up event of the year at the annual HBCU Championships after a two-year hiatus.
The Pirates finished fourth and the Lady Pirates finished in third, with Kristina Titova, a freshman from Novosibirsk, Russia, winning the singles title after defeating top competition from Howard University, Xavier University, Bethune-Cookman University and Shaw University.
The men will next play the University of Richmond in Norfolk, Virginia on the 21 at 7 p.m. and the women will take on James Madison in the Norfolk, Virginia on February 27 at 6 p.m.
The Hampton Script 