West transfers from Centenary (La.) to Gold Nuggets

OLIVIA WEST

NEW ORLEANS — Olivia West of Humble, Texas, has signed a women's tennis scholarship with Xavier University of Louisiana. West is enrolled at XU for the current semester as a chemistry/pre-pharmacy major after transferring from Centenary (La.) College, and she will have three seasons of eligiblity with the Gold Nuggets.

West, a left-hander, was 8-3 in singles and 9-2 in doubles at Centenary this past season and shared the team lead in singles victories and doubles victories. She helped Centenary's Ladies win 7-of-11 dual matches during the spring, including a 6-1 record in the American Southwest Conference.

At Atascocita High School, West was a district champion in singles and doubles in 2009 and 2010. She qualified for the state tournament and was voted team MVP both seasons.

West was No. 1 in the USTA Texas Championship Division girls 16s rankings in 2009.

The Gold Nuggets' previously announced signees were Vashni Balleste of Rock Tavern, N.Y., Simone-Alyse Ewell of Detroit, Brion Flowers of Lafayette, La., and Alexandria Locure of New Orleans. Coach Alan Green also said that Carmen Nelson, a letterwinner in 2009-10 and 2010-11, has re-enrolled at Xavier and rejoined the team. The Nuggets' 11-player roster is the largest of Green's 10 seasons as coach, and there are no seniors.

The XU women have won eight conference or group championships in the past 10 seasons and qualified for the NAIA National Championships six of the past eight seasons. They were 19th in the 2012 NAIA coaches posteason poll, the seventh time in eight seasons that the Gold Nuggets were among the final top 25.

2012-13 Xavier University of Louisiana Women's Tennis Signees
Name	Ht.	Yr.*	Hometown	High School (College)
Vashni Balleste	5-4	Fr.	Rock Tavern, N.Y.	Washingtonville
Simone-Alyse Ewell	5-5	Fr.	Detroit, Mich.	The Roeper School
Brion Flowers	5-6	Fr.	Lafayette, La.	St. Thomas More
Alexandria Locure	5-4	Fr.	New Orleans, La.	John Curtis Christian
Olivia West	5-4½	So.	Humble, Texas	Atascocita (Centenary [La.])
* athletic classification at Xavier in fall of 2012 By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director VISIT: XULAATHLETICS VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA