Both Xavier teams advance at NAIA group tournament

NORCROSS, Georgia — Xavier University of Louisiana's men defeated Milligan 6-0, and the XU women beat Bethel (Tenn.) 5-0 Friday in the quarterfinals of an NAIA unaffiliated group tennis tournament.

The Gold Rush (15-7) — seeded first in the tournament, the defending champion and ranked eighth nationally — will play fourth-seeded Bethel in the semifinals. The Gold Nuggets (5-21), seeded second, will play third-seeded Milligan. Both duals will start at 8:30 a.m. EDT Saturday.

Zach Taylor, Viktor Svoboda and Steffen Giles-Osborn won singles and doubles matches for the Rush. Svoboda clinched with a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Wesley Rice at No. 3 singles. Kourtney Howell and Amber Brown won in singles and doubles for the Nuggets, and Howell clinched with a 6-0, 6-1 decision against Dasha Klyuyenko at No. 1 singles.

Svoboda clinched a Gold Rush dual for a team-leading fourth time this season.

Giles-Osborn and Sean Richardson, seniors and fourth-year team members, both remained unbeaten in conference/group tournaments. Giles-Osborn and Richardson defeated Wesley Rice and Sebastian Jonsson 8-2 at No. 2 doubles, and Giles-Osborn beat Mickey Brown 6-0, 6-0 at No. 4 singles. Richardson's No. 6 singles match against Wade Tugman was not played.

Giles-Osborn is 13-0 and Richardson 10-0 in conference/group tournaments.

For just the third time this season, all three of the Gold Nuggets' doubles teams played and won. And for the first time in more than two years, the Nuggets' top two doubles teams both won 8-0. Howell and Nicole DeLoach's shutout against Michella Douglas and Krysani Boyd at No. 2 was their seventh victory in their past 10 matches. That's the best extended stretch of any Nuggets double team during a spring semester in which they've won 21-of-78 matches.

Both XU semifinal matchups will be rematches of 2011, when the Rush defeated Bethel 6-0 and Milligan beat the Nuggets 5-0.

Championship duals will be played Saturday afternoon — no sooner than noon EDT — with the winners receiving automatic bids to the NAIA National Championships at Mobile, Ala., on May 15-19.

Results: Men Women

NAIA Unaffiliated Group Tournament MEN Racquet Club of the South, Norcross, Ga. All times Eastern First Round — Friday, April 27 #8 Milligan 5, #9 Bluefield 0 Quarterfinals — Friday, April 27 #4 Bethel (Tenn.) 5, #5 Tennessee Wesleyan 3 #6 SCAD Atlanta 5, #3 Martin Methodist 2 #1 Xavier 6, Milligan 0 #2 Cumberland 5, #7 Reinhardt 0 Semifinals — Saturday, April 28 #1 Xavier vs. #4 Bethel (Tenn.), 8:30 a.m. #2 Cumberland vs. #6 SCAD Atlanta, 8:30 a.m. Championship — Saturday, April 28 Semifinal winners meet at noon

NAIA Unaffiliated Group Tournament WOMEN Racquet Club of the South, Norcross, Ga. All times Eastern First Round — Friday, April 27 #7 Bethel 6, #10 Reinhardt 3 #8 Columbia (S.C.) 5, #9 Bluefield 0 Quarterfinals — Friday, April 27 #3 Milligan 5, #6 Tennessee Wesleyan 0 #5 Cumberland 6, #4 SCAD Atlanta 0 #1 Martin Methodist 6, #8 Columbia (S.C.) 0 #2 Xavier 5, #7 Bethel (Tenn.) 0 Semifinals — Saturday, April 28 #1 Martin Methodist vs. #5 Cumberland, 8:30 a.m. #2 Xavier vs. #3 Milligan, 8:30 a.m. Championship — Saturday, April 28 Semifinal winners meet at noon

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
VISIT: XULAATHLETICS