Xavier Rush add scholarship tennis player

Benjamin Brading

NEW ORLEANS — Benjamin Brading, winner of approximately 30 junior tennis singles tournaments in Great Britain, has signed an athletic scholarship with Xavier University of Louisiana.

Brading is a right-hander from Ryde, England — about 70 miles southwest of London — and a 2011 graduate of Sandown High School. He arrived at XU this week for the spring semester and will be in the lineup when the Gold Rush and Gold Nuggets play city rival Loyola at 2 p.m. Friday at the new XU Tennis Center. It will be the first intercollegiate competition at the $2.5 million facility, which was dedicated Oct. 26. Fans will receive free hot dogs during the dual matches.

Brading has represented the Isle of Wight, where his hometown is located, four times in the Island Games. He was the Isle of Wight men's singles champion in 2010 and 2011, and Brading has victories against six of the top 50 18-and-younger singles players in Great Britain, including the seventh-ranked player.

Brading is majoring in business management and adminstration at Xavier. He is a freshman academically and athletically.

Returning players for the XU men — who were 18-8 in 2012 and reached the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Championship and ranked seventh in the final poll — include All-America Loic Didavi, a senior. Top returning players for the Gold Nuggets, who were 7-22 but ranked 19th in the final poll, include All-America Kourtney Howell, a junior, and sophomore Amanda Materre, who was 36th in the final ITA NAIA singles rankings.

NOTES: This will be the first competition for both XU teams since the USTA / ITA NAIA South Regional at Gainesville, Ga., in late September . . . In the preseason ITA NAIA individual rankings, XU junior Viktor Svoboda is 39th and sophomore Nikita Soifer is 41st in men's singles. They're ranked 19th and 20th, respectively, in the South . . . In women's singles Howell is 10th nationally and eighth in the South, and freshman Brion Flowers is 36th nationally and 16th in the South. The doubles team of Howell and Flowers is 11th nationally and fourth in the South . . . The first of nine NAIA team rankings will be announced Tuesday . . . Friday's dual will be the opener for Loyola's men and women, too. In 2012 the Gold Rush defeated Loyola 8-1, and the Gold Nuggets won 9-0 . . . Coach Alan Green has added Idaho to the Nuggets' schedule. They'll meet at 2 p.m. March 12 at the XU Tennis Center. Idaho is one of nine NCAA Division I opponents for the XU women and one of four which will visit XU.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA