Gold Nuggets win at Prairie View; Rush lose to top-10 foe

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas -- Xavier University of Louisiana's women's tennis team continued its resurgence Sunday with a 6-1 victory at Prairie View A&M.

The victory was the first in three years for the Gold Nuggets, ranked 13th in the NAIA, against an NCAA Division I opponent.

Xavier lost 6-3 to Bethany (Kan.) in a matchup of top-10 NAIA men's teams.

The Gold Nuggets (3-1), in their best start to a season since 2007, won all three doubles matches against an NCAA D-I opponent for the first time since 2008. Kourtney Howell, Amanda Materre, Simone-Alyce Ewell and Amber Brown won in doubles and singles for Xavier.

Howell clinched the dual with her 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 victory against Brittany Harrell at No. 1 singles. Harrell defeated Howell in a super-tiebreaker a year ago.

Brown and Vashni Balleste won in singles in super-tiebreakers. Materre and Ewell clinched the doubles point with an 8-6 victory against Christine Ngo Gwodog and Jade Daniels at No. 2.

A year ago, the Gold Nuggets did not reach their third victory until their 17th dual of the season.

Loic Didavi and Nikita Soifer won in singles for the Gold Rush (3-3), ranked eighth, but Bethany (6-1), ranked 10th, prevailed with the help of a pair of come-from-behind singles victories: Marcelo Alecio's 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-4 decision against Kyle Montrel at No. 3 and James Bragg's 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 decision against Viktor Svoboda at No. 4.

Didavi, who retired Saturday during singles against Prairie View because of an injured arm, rallied to beat Michiel Van Den Bogaert 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 at No. 1. Soifer beat Laurentsi Arakhamiya 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2.

Two of the Gold Rush losses this season are to top-10 NAIA opponents. Xavier won 7-2 against Bethany each of the previous two seasons.

Both XU teams will be back on the road Tuesday to play NCAA D-I's Louisiana-Lafayette -- the women at 5 p.m., and the men at 6 p.m. The next dual at the new XU Tennis Center will start at 2 p.m. Saturday against McNeese State's women.

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