ATLANTA — The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference announced its SIAC Tennis Players of the Week on Tuesday, April 1, honoring student-athletes for impressive performances in matches played last week.
Valerie Essome (
Benedict) and
Tanyaradzwa Kaome (
Tuskegee) were recognized.
WOMEN'S TENNIS CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – VALERIE ESSOME, BENEDICT COLLEGE
Junior | Duoula, Cameroon
Essome helped Benedict take a 7-0 victory over Edward Waters last week. She teammed with Tanatswa Musabaeka for a 6-2 victory at No. 1 doubles. She then blanked Edward Waters' No. 1 player Aalisha Alexis, 6-0, 6-0.
WOMEN'S TENNIS CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – TANYARADZWA KAOME, TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY
Senior | Harare, Zimbabwe
Kaome was exceptional across both singles and doubles play, delivering one of the most dominant performances of the day. In No. 2 singles, she overwhelmed her opponent, Keynon Thompkins, 6-1, 6-0, controlling the match from start to finish with consistent baseline play, aggressive court coverage, and excellent shot selection. Her ability to dictate pace and keep Thompkins off balance proved key to securing one of Tuskegee’s six straight-set singles victories.
In doubles, Kaome teamed up with fellow standout Leiloni Payton at the top spot, where the pair cruised to a 6-1 win over the Clark Atlanta duo of Thompkins and Alexandra Turnbough. Kaome’s net presence and poise under pressure complemented Payton’s powerful groundstrokes, as the Golden Tigers’ top pair dominated rallies and broke serve early to seize momentum and never look back.
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ABOUT THE SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (SIAC)
The SIAC is a NCAA athletic conference consisting primarily of historically black colleges and universities with headquarters in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The SIAC includes 15 member institutions (Albany State University, Allen University, Benedict College, Central State University, Clark Atlanta University, Edward Waters University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Lane College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Miles College, Morehouse College, Savannah State University, Spring Hill College, and Tuskegee University), which are located within a contiguous seven-state footprint (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio). The SIAC sponsors nine men's and seven women's sports and is a proud member of the NCAA Division II. For more information, visit
www.thesiac.com.