Saturday, February 18, 2017

Rush, Nuggets defeat ranked teams at Grizzly Invitational


LAWRENCEVILLE, Georgia -- The men's and women's tennis teams of Xavier University of Louisiana earned their first victories of the season against ranked opponents on the opening day of the Grizzly Invitational Friday.

The Gold Rush, ranked second in the NAIA, defeated No. 3 Keiser 5-2. The Gold Nuggets, ranked 19th, beat No. 25 Cumberlands 5-3.

The XULA men also defeated Cumberlands 6-1. The XULA women lost 5-2 to ninth-ranked Keiser.

The XULA men beat a top-3 team for the first time in their history and won for the 18th time in their last 26 duals against top-10 opponents. Antoine Richard and Moses Micheal won in doubles and singles for the Gold Rush. Richard rallied from a 4-1 second-set deficit to defeat Bastien Song 7-5, 7-5 at No. 1 singles and clinch the dual.

"Today's match against Keiser was the real deal. That team is so talented and very deep," XULA coach Alan Green said. "Our guys just stepped up and played like some grown men. I was very proud of our effort."

The Gold Nuggets clinched against Cumberlands when Lacee Ancar won 7-5, 6-3 against Denee Lyttle at No. 4 singles. Charlene Goreau and Brandi Nelson won in doubles and singles.

Against the Cumberland men, Pierre Andrieu clinched at No. 5 singles when he beat Dev Sivam 6-3, 6-4.

The Gold Nuggets (2-4) will play NAIA No. 7 Indiana Wesleyan at 5 p.m. EST Saturday. The Gold Rush (4-2) will travel to Atlanta to play Emory, ranked second in NCAA Division III, in a non-Grizzly Invitational dual at 6 p.m.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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