Xavier Gold Rush close regular season with 4-0 victory at Alcorn

LORMAN, Mississippi — Corey Huggins capped an unbeaten Saturday with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-1) decision against Maxim Tkachenko to clinch Xavier University of Louisiana's 4-0 men's tennis victory at Alcorn State.

Xavier's women lost 4-1 to Alcorn.

The duals were the final ones of the regular season for the Gold Rush (14-7), ranked ninth in the NAIA, and the Gold Nuggets (4-21). Both teams won 9-0 at Tougaloo earlier in the day. It was the first time since Feb. 11, 2011, that the XU men won two duals in one day and the first time since Feb. 20, 2010, that the Rush scored two shutouts in one day.

Huggins was the only Gold Rush player to win twice in singles and twice in doubles.

Victories by the teams of Huggins and Viktor Svoboda and Amir Rahbar and Loic Didavi gave Xavier the doubles point, then the Gold Rush pulled away in singles when Steffen Giles-Osborn defeated Vitali Vasileuski 6-1, 6-2 at No. 3 and Sean Richardson beat Garry Amor Singh 7-5, 6-2 at No. 5. Huggins clinched at No. 6.

The victory was the Gold Rush's third of the season against an NCAA Division I opponent.

The Gold Nuggets scored their point when Amanda Materre defeated Quta Mebuke (ASU) 7-6 (7-1), 7-5 at No. 2 singles. It was the team-high 14th singles victory of the spring for Materre, a freshman, and the 13th in her past 18 matches.

XU's Kourtney Howell and Nicole DeLoach defeated Dari Rudd and Chan Rutherford 8-7 (7-5) at No. 2 doubles — but after Alcorn clinched the doubles point.

The next competition for both Xavier teams will be April 27 in the quarterfinals of an NAIA unaffiliated group qualifying tournament at Norcross, Georgia.

Results: Men Women

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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