NORFOLK, Va. -- Naysayers will say Friday's Hampton-Bethune-Cookman Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference semifinal was over the minute the Lady Wildcats dropped the doubles point.
Well, forgive the Lady Wildcats for spending the next three hours trying to tell those naysayers to keep their dang mouths shut and nearly quieting them permanetly.
Rehaana Butt,
Alejandra Vidal and
Matea Roki opened a window for a potential 3-0 heroic comeback before the Pirates shut it and posted a 4-3 decision Friday at Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center on the campus of Old Dominion University. Hampton will meet Morgan State, a 4-3 winner of Florida A&M, in Saturday's championship game.
Bethune-Cookman finishes 9-8, its first winning season since 2015. This is the second year in a row the Lady Wildcats head home after a 4-3 loss, falling to Morgan State in last year's quarterfinal.
For the second day, it came down to
Phatsimo Ruele, who, alas, couldn't match Thursday's dramatic win over Howard and fell 6-4,7-5 to Hampton's Halley Mullins in the No. 5 singles match that was the last on the court.
The onus can not and should not be entirely on Ruele.
Inclement weather forced the match indoors, where only four matches could be held at one time. Ruele took the court after
Karen Romero dropped her No. 4 singles match, also a two-setter. Sequence-wise, this could have easily been a 4-0 Hampton romp.
Instead, as always, we got Roki and Vidal playing as if the fate of the universe depended on it and delivering an instant classic that was a more deserving way for the seniors to end their careers.
But that doubles point. Lousy naysayers.
When Hampton won it with its victory at No. 2 doubles, the shorthanded Lady Wildcats were already in a 2-0 hole, something they were never able to overcome in the five times they lost the double point this season.
"Critical. Absolutely critical," B-CU Head Coach
Val Villucci said about the doubles point. "We have absolutely no margin for error when that happens. But this team never quits and always finds a way. I'm very proud of what I saw today."
Butt, the MEAC Rookie of The Year, found a little personal redemption after Thursday's shaky tournament debut, keeping the unforced errors down and utilizing her power to take No.2 singles to put Bethune-Cookman on the board.
Roki was down 3-0 and Vidal 5-4, but recovered and each took their first sets. Both seemed to get their second wind at the exact same time with emphatic early third-set game wins in their respective victories.
Vidal finished off her No.3 singles win before Roki at No. 1 to tie the match at 3-3.
Roki finished the tournament a combined a 4-0 in singles and doubles, while Butt and Vidal were both 3-1.
