No. 5 AUM edges No. 9 Xavier in AUM Invitational final

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Freshman Nicolas Pinones-Haltenhoff defeated Loic Didavi 6-2, 6-3 at the top singles flight Sunday to clinch NAIA No. 5 Auburn Montgomery's 5-4 men's tennis victory against No. 9 Xavier University of Louisiana in the championship dual of the AUM Invitational.

Xavier's women lost 6-3 to NAIA No. 22 Campbellsville.

Doubles victories by Didavi and Zach Taylor at No. 1 and Viktor Svoboda and Corey Huggins at No. 3 gave the Gold Rush (9-2) a 2-1 lead entering singles. But AUM (6-3) never trailed again after victories at Nos. 4, 5 and 2 singles.

Svoboda, a 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (13-11) winner against Josh Reason in the final completed match, was the only Gold Rush player to win in doubles and singles. Sean Richardson beat Matias Dasso 6-4, 6-1 for the other XU singles victory.

Didavi played for AUM the past two seasons before transferring to Xavier. The Warhawks snapped the nine-dual win streak of the XU men, their longest since the start of the 2001-02 season. The Rush beat six top-25 teams during the streak.

"We can walk out of here with our heads high," XU coach Alan Green said. "We fought AUM hard. We will see them in two weeks at home, and we're looking forward to the rematch."

In the women's dual XU's Kourtney Howell and Nicole DeLoach scored the first point with an 8-1 victory against Lindy and Megan Charity at the top doubles flight. The Gold Nuggets (2-12) led 3-2 after Howell's 6-0, 6-0 decision against Anna Tumanyan and Amanda Materre's 6-2, 6-2 victory against Megan Charity at the top two singles flights. But Campbellsville (4-1) won the remaining matches and clinched when Jenna Sallee beat Jordyn Goody 6-2, 6-4 at No. 5.

Materre increased her singles win streak to seven matches, and Howell moved hers to five.

"Our ladies played well on this trip," Green said "It was good to see us compete against some ranked NAIA opponents. We just have to learn how to finish matches."

The Nuggets were 0-3 at AUM -- all against ranked NAIA opponents -- but began the trip with a victory at No. 21 Belhaven the day before the tournament. XU's women have five losses this season against ranked teams.

Both XU teams will play NCAA Division I member Nicholls State at 3 p.m. Wednesday at City Park/Pepsi Tennis Center.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

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