The Prairie View A&M Men's Tennis team took care of business in the SWAC Round-up competitions, going a combined 5-1 against conference opponents and were rewarded for their dominance with a No. 2 seed.
 
“We've got to work hard,” Prairie View A&M coach John Cochran said. “Our success in the SWAC Championships is going to depend on consistency and everyone stepping up. Early in the year we didn't have that. Now everyone is finally starting to step up and that's why we got the No. 2 seed.”
 
The Panthers went 1-1 in the second Round-up, which was held in Baton Rouge, La. from March 30-31. Prairie View A&M defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Day 2, but the team lost to Alcorn State on Day 1 in a tough 5-2 contest in Baton Rouge, La. Alcorn State (6-0) was the only SWAC team to finish conference play undefeated, as its win over the Panthers proved to be the determining factor in the SWAC Tournament seeding.
 
Ronald Chidzikwe led the way for the Panthers at the No. 1 singles position, finishing the Round-up 2-0. Chidzikwe was the only player to win both of his matches, taking down Ernesto Santillian of Alcorn State 6-2, 6-4 and then following it up with a convincing 6-3, 6-1 win over Hugo Gomez of UAPB. Juan Pablo Robles was the only other player to earn a point for Prairie View A&M in the Alcorn State match. In the No. 3 singles spot he defeated Vitali Vasleuski 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 as the Panthers lost 5-2.
 
“He's playing lights out,” Cochran said. “(Chidzikwe) is going to lead us into this thing, but everybody else has to step up. If they don't then we won't win. It's as simple as that.”
 
Against Arkansas Pine Bluff the Panthers swept the doubles matches to earn a point while Kristen Powell (6-1, 6-3), Trenton Johnson (6-0, 6-0) and David Aldaz won along with Chidzikwe for the 5-2 victory.
 
The Panthers will have one more match before the SWAC Championships on April 20 in Alexandria, La. Prairie View A&M will play host to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 7.