NEW ORLEANS -- Xavier University of Louisiana lost its men's tennis spring season opener 6-1 Saturday to Tulane at City Park/Pepsi Tennis Center, but sophomore Nikita Soifer was resilient in scoring XU's first dual-match point ever against its city rival.
Soifer saved eight match points in a 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 1-0 (11-9) victory against Joe Young at No. 2 singles.
Soifer saved four match points while serving the 12th game of the second set, then scored the final six points of the super-tiebreaker after trailing 9-5.
It was the first collegiate dual match for Soifer, who sat out last season and was 2-3 in singles and 2-2 in doubles in two fall tournaments. His opponent was second-team All-Conference USA in 2012 and second-team All-Louisiana in 2011. Young won singles matches in super-tiebreakers in both Green Wave dual victories against Xavier the past two seasons.
But Xavier's highlights started and ended with Soifer. Tulane (1-0) didn't lose more than two games in any other match. At No. 1 singles, XU's Loic Didavi -- the Louisiana Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year in 2012 -- lost 6-1, 6-1 to Idan Mark.
"We gave a good effort but we were less confident than usual," 10th-year XU coach Alan Green said. "We will get that fixed."
Tulane was the first of seven NCAA Division I opponents on the schedule of the Gold Rush, an NAIA quarterfinalist in 2012. Next match for Xavier's men and women will be D-I Nicholls State at 4 p.m. Saturday in Houma, La. The next Gold Rush home match will start at 3 p.m. Feb. 28 against Belhaven at the new XU Tennis Center.
By Ed Cassiere, SID
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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