BALTIMORE, Md. (April 26, 2019)-The Morgan State men's tennis team reigns over the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Northern Division. The Bears have been winning the title for eight consecutive season since 2012 under the direction of then head coach Sean Holcomb-Jones and now with Morgan State tennis alum Matthew Townes since 2015.

The Morgan State tennis team has always been mainly composed of international players, and it looks like this mix works very well for the Bears. They have an amazing combined singles and doubles record of 163 games won to only 28 losses in MEAC play since 2012. Despite the loss of a couple games, the Bears always won the match against their opponents and haven't lost a league contest in the last eight years, going 32-0.

The team is lead by senior and captain Arjun Ramakrishnan. A native of Chennai, India, he chose to attend Morgan State back in 2015 because of the facilities, the diversity of the teammates and the academics, which made it the right fit for him. Since his freshman year, he is an outstanding student and has a cumulative GPA of 3.81  

Ramakrishnan is one of the Bears' who contributed to the division title these past four years, as well as reaching back-to-back championship finals in 2018 and 2019.

"Winning the north division has always been a milestone to be achieved every year at MSU. It gives us an upper hand when we get into our main championships," said Ramakrishnan. "We step into the conference tournament filled with confidence and that helps us move deep into the tournament." 

Ramakrishnan has an almost perfect singles record of 9-1 in MEAC play. He also paired with four different teammates during his career in doubles and has a 7-4 record. During his career at Morgan, Ramakrishnan showed that he was an accomplished player, exemplary teammate, leader and a captain for his team.

"Being the captain of the team for two years in a row has pushed me both mentally as well as physically. We have been breaking records and making history ever since. A record-breaking winning streak (13) and to be in the finals of the conference last season for the first time in the program's history," said Ramakrishnan. "This role has made me a better person on and off the court and taught me to take care of my boys. I try to get the best out of each of them. They have taken their responsibility to do great things and made me be a proud captain."

Led by its captain, Morgan State has cruised past the first two rounds of the 2019 MEAC Championships defeating Florida A&M in the opening round by a score of 4-0 and North Carolina Central in the semifinals, 4-1 and is now heading back to the title match.  

On Saturday Morgan State will face a familiar foe in defending champion South Carolina State. The Bears, who would fall to South Carolina State in last year's final, 4-2, have the goal in mind of taking the trophy home this time. First serve is at noon from Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center on the campus of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va.

"It's a mixture of emotions I'm going through. I am extremely happy and proud of my boys and their effort so far and we are confident to make some big damage at championships," said Ramakrishnan. "I'm also sad this will be my last one, but we don't plan to stop here. We plan to get the ring and the ticket to play in the NCAA!"