Howell is GCAC Player of Week again; Huggins gets first

Kourtney Howell

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Kourtney Howell is the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week in women's tennis for April 9-15. XU's Corey Huggins won the GCAC men's tennis honor.

It's the third GCAC award of 2012 for Howell — she's the first to win that many in a season in women's tennis since XU's Anastesia Opata in 2009 — and her second in a row. Huggins is a first-time recipient and the fifth Gold Rush player to win it this year.

Howell, a sophomore from Cypress, Texas, and a graduate of Cypress Woods High School, was 1-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles this past week in the Gold Nuggets' 9-0 victory at Tougaloo and 4-1 loss at Alcorn State.

Huggins, a junior from Brooklyn, N.Y., and a graduate of Bedford Stuyvesant High School and Seminole State (Okla.) College, was 2-1 in singles and 3-0 in doubles, with two of the doubles victories against Tulane and Alcorn State of NCAA Division I. Huggins clinched the Gold Rush's 4-0 victory against

Alcorn State with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-1) singles decision against Maxim Tkachenko.

Both XU teams will compete April 27-28 in an NAIA unaffiliated group qualifying tournament at Norcross, Georgia.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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