The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Danielle 'Danie' Thompson showed why she was recently named the 2018 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Player of the Year.

With the MEAC Tennis Championship title on the line, Thompson clinched a 6-3, 6-4 win over Mariam Mitaishvili from Hampton to clinch the final point for the Morgan State Lady Bears as they won the prestigious team award for the first time in more than two decades.

As the number one player on the team, Thompson's triumph gave Morgan State a 4-1 win over their Northern Division rivals Hampton on Saturday in Norfolk, Virginia.

The 5-foot, 2-inch senior also teamed up with Alexus Gill to win their doubles match. For her effort, Thompson was named the utstanding Performer and was selected to the All-Tournament team. "I was proud of myself. This is my senior year and I went out with a bang. I said to myself to just leave it all on the court," she said. "I honestly didn't know what to expect and how it would be, but I was just waiting for this moment.

"Honestly it feels amazing. I'm just speechless. Words can't describe that feeling once you've won. It gave me goosebumps honestly."

In their doubles match, Thompson remembered how they were down 4-5 and on serve at 3-0, she double faulted. "I was extremely nervous, but we both didn't panic. We were both with each other the whole time, trying to pump each other up," she recalled. "We were able to tie it up at 5-5 and we were able to go up 6-5 and eventually won the match.

"That was amazing for us because we were able to get the first point for our team. Then my team-mates were able to give at win at five and six so we were up 3-0. When I realized what had happened, I was in the match to determine the outcome for our team."

That was when she had to step it up into another gear.

"I was up 5-1 in the second set and before I knew it, it was 5-2, 5-3, and 5-4 and I was like 'oh my God, what is going on?" she asked herself. "The girl was on serve at 30-40 and my coach told me to swing big on my return and when she hit the ball over again, she missed it.

"At that moment, I was like 'oh my God, we did it. It was the best feeling ever, just to know that it was such a huge challenge for me being down to control my nerve and not panic and win. I'm still very speechless that we won."

With the team victory, Morgan State has earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. But they will have to wait until today to find out exactly who, when and where they will play.

It's the first time for Morgan State and Thompson said they are eagerly looking forward to it.

"This is a huge opportunity to play some of the top schools out there so I'm just expecting to go out there and play some good tennis, get the experience, get the exposure and we have nothing to lose," she projected.

"We just have to go out there and show that Morgan State University has a great tennis programme and we will put Morgan on the map, so I'm really excited and I know all of the girls are excited as well."

Whatever happens in the NCAA Championships will only be icing on the came for Thompson. She admitted that she couldn't ask for a better performance in her final year as a Lady Bear.

"It has been a roller coast ride from red shirting my freshman year to all of the dram that unfolded this year where we lost a few girls and gained one of them back," she pointed out.

"It's crazy how everything worked out and I honestly wouldn't change it for anything in the world. To end my senior year like this, I couldn't ask for a better script. It still hasn't hit me yet and I'm just so excited for what is happening right now."

Just as they pulled off the team victory, Thompson said the news flashed on the jumbotron at a spring football game at Morgan State and they were told that the crowd went wild in joining in the celebrations.

"When we got back on campus, people told us how happy they were for us as they congratulated us," she stated. "It was just a nice feeling to know that we had all of this support back at school. It just feels so good to be the conference champions."

She added that she could only imagine what it would be like if they succeed in the NCAA Championships. But whether they advance or not, Thompson said it will still be an achievement to celebrate because they have never made it before.

The 23-year-old Thompson is the daughter of Gail and Stephen Thompson. She is majoring in Hospitality Management and will be preparing to represent the Bahamas on the Fed Cup team when they travel to Mexico to play in the Americas Zone II from June 18-23.