Xavier Gold Nuggets defeat NCAA D-I's Alcorn State

NEW ORLEANS — Viktor Svoboda defeated Vitali Vasileuski 7-5, 6-0 at No. 4 singles Friday to clinch Xavier University of Louisiana's 5-4 men's tennis victory against Alcorn State at the new XU Tennis Center.

Kourtney Howell's 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 decision against Kersten Vanem at No. 1 singles clinched Xavier's 6-3 women's victory against Alcorn.

Both XU teams are ranked 10th in the NAIA. The Gold Nuggets are 8-6 — they exceeded their victory total of a year ago, when they were 7-22 — and the Gold Rush are 7-5. Both XU teams have won four of their last five dual matches. Alcorn State's men are 2-7, and the women are 2-8.

Loic Didavi and Kyle Montrel won for the Gold Rush in doubles and singles. Howell and Brion Flowers did the same for the Gold Nuggets.

The dual match victory was the Gold Nuggets' second of the season against an NCAA Division I opponent — their most in one season since doing it three times in 2009. The XU men also have two victories this year against D-Is, one fewer than in 2012.

The Gold Nuggets and Lady Braves played their singles matches first. Alcorn won 2-of-3 doubles matches.

Howell and Amanda Materre — a 6-4, 6-2 winner against Arielle Buchmann at No. 3 — have four singles victories each against NCAA Division I opponents this semester. Flowers, a freshman, won 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 against Viktoria Kozachuk at No. 2 after losing in three sets in the previous two duals.

"The Nuggets played very well in singles, and we are still looking for the right doubles combinations," XU coach Alan Green said,

Montrel, a freshman, beat Garry Amor 6-1, 6-4 at No. 3 for his sixth consecutive singles victory. Didavi defeated Ernesto Santillan 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1 for his fifth consecutive singles victory, and Svoboda's victory was his fourth in a row.

Didavi and Montrel beat Santillan and Ivan Umnikov 8-6 to snap their two-match losing streak at No. 1 doubles. Svoboda and Nikita Soifer then gave the Rush a 2-1 lead in the dual with their fifth consecutive doubles victory, 9-8 (7-2) against Max Tkachenko and Bhavtaran Singh at No. 2.

"The Rush played yet another grueling match that came down to the wire," Green said. "Every single match we won was so important. We pulled out another close match in No. 2 doubles and if we don't do that, we lose this match. Hats off to these guys for their toughness."

Both XU teams will travel to city rival University of New Orleans for dual matches at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The next home duals for the Rush and Nuggets will start at 2 p.m. April 6 against perennial NAIA power Auburn Montgomery.

Results: Men Women

Facebook photos: Men Women


By Ed Cassiere, SID
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA