BALTIMORE, Md. (April 23, 2026)--The Morgan State men's tennis team will begin its quest for the program's second Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) tennis championship when it takes on fifth-seeded Howard in a quarterfinal match later this afternoon at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C.
 
Thursday's match between the fourth-seeded Bears and rival Bison is scheduled to get underway at 2 p.m. The two teams' last match was against each other in the regular season finale won by Morgan State, 4-3 at the Southeast Tennis & Learning Center in Washington, D.C. (April 13).
 
This will be the third consecutive season that the two Beltway rivals will meet in the MEAC quarterfinals. Last season Morgan State advanced to the semifinals after defeating the Bison 4-1. The year before Howard would taste victory, defeating the Bears 4-2 in the 2024 quarterfinal.
 
Morgan State (7-11, 2-3 MEAC) enters the tennis championship on a two-match winning streak after closing out the regular season with back-to-back wins over its rivals, Coppin State (7-0) and Howard (4-3).
 
Howard (1-13, 1-4 MEAC) is currently on a three-match losing skid, which included non-conference road losses at Richmond (4-0), at Navy (4-2) and the season finale at home to Morgan State (4-3).
 
Last night Morgan State freshman Ilya Maltsev was named to the All-MEAC Second Team, while Howard junior Michael Major Jr. was also named to the All-MEAC Second Team.
 
The winner between Howard and Morgan State will advance to the semifinal round to face top seed and defending champion South Carolina State on Friday, April 24 at 12 p.m.


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ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified high research (R2) institution offering nearly 140 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's Preeminent Public Urban Research University, and the only university to have its entire campus designated as a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu.