NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Amber Brown rallied for a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 victory Friday against McNeese State's Lara Pujol in the Big Easy Tennis Classic at the University of New Orleans.
It was the lone XU victory on a day when two seeded Gold Rush players and two seeded Gold Nuggets lost their opening matches. Three XU singles players began their collegiate careers with losses.
"Our focus today was to just compete and get the first-match jitters out of the way," said 10th-year XU coach Alan Green. "We will be fine."
Brown, the Nuggets' No. 3 women's singles player this past season, came back against the Cowgirls' No. 2 player of a year ago. The victory occurred in the round of 16 in the second flight.
"I'm looking for good things from Amber Brown this season," Green said of the junior from Decatur, Ga., who five months ago won three consecutive singles matches to help the Gold Nuggets win an NAIA unaffiliated group tournament and receive an automatic bid to nationals.
Jennifer Dien of Southern Illinois eliminated Brown in the quarterfinals, 6-2, 7-6 (7-1).
The only other XU player to win a set was junior Amir Rahbar, who lost 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to UNO's Vinay Kamineni in the round of 16 in the second flight of men's singles.
In other XU matches:
• Nikita Soifer, seeded fourth in the men's singles first flight, lost his collegiate debut 6-2, 6-1 to UNO's Abdelrahman Zaki.
• Second-seeded Viktor Svoboda lost 6-4, 6-1 to South Alabama's Blake Gregor in the quarterfinals of the men's singles second flight.
• Kourtney Howell, a second-team NAIA All-American this past season, lost 6-3, 6-2 to Troy's Lyubov Gorleeve in the round of 16 of the women's singles first flight. Howell was seeded fourth. Freshman teammate Brion Flowers lost 6-0, 6-0 to Troy's Karoline Grymel in the quarterfinals.
• The Gold Nuggets were 0-4 in the women's singles third flight. Nicole DeLoach, seeded sixth, lost 6-0, 6-0 to Troy's Anja Cosovic. Jordyn Goody lost 6-2, 7-5 to Lamar's Kanda Borgononi. Vashni Balleste lost 6-3, 6-1 to Cosovic in Balleste's collegiate debut. And Olivia West, a sophomore transfer from Centenary (La.), lost her XU debut in a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) decision against Nicholls State's Emma Pitre.
• The Gold Nuggets lost twice in the women's doubles round of 32. Troy's Cosovic and Brooke Durden defeated Howell and Flowers 8-1, and Anita Lee and Ariadna Cairo Baza of Southern Illinois beat West and Goody 8-1.
The tournament will continue Saturday and conclude Sunday at UNO's University Tennis Center. Many of the XU men and women will play consolation matches.
By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
VISIT: XULAATHLETICS
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