Saturday, March 9, 2013

Gold Nuggets, Rush win against ranked opponents again

MONTGOMERY, Alabama — For the second time this season, both Xavier University of Louisiana tennis teams defeated ranked NAIA opponents on the same day.

It happened Friday in the AUM Invitational. The Gold Nuggets defeated Cumberland 9-0 in the morning at the AUM Tennis Complex, then the Gold Rush beat Coastal Georgia 6-3 in the afternoon at Lagoon Park Tennis Center. Both XU teams are ranked 10th, and both opponents are 22nd.

The Gold Nuggets' victory was their third of the season against a ranked team. They also snapped a nine-dual losing streak in this event dating to 2010. The XU men won their second consecutive dual, both against ranked opponents.

The Gold Nuggets did not lose a set, and Kourtney Howell, Brion Flowers, Amanda Materre and Simone-Alyse Ewell won in doubles and singles. Ewell clinched the dual with a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Sandra Munoz Poletti at No. 4 singles, and Materre won for a team-leading seventh time in nine singles matches this semester in a 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 decision against Anita Racz at No. 3.

Loic Didavi, Nikita Soifer, Kyle Montrel and Viktor Svoboda won in doubles and singles for the Gold Rush. Svoboda defeated Malhar Mali 6-0, 6-3 at No. 4 singles to put Xavier ahead to stay, 3-2, and Didavi clinched with his 7-6 (7-5), 6-0 victory against Louis Volclair at No. 1. Didavi and Montrel, XU's No. 1 doubles team, improved to 8-0 for the semester with an 8-4 victory against Volclair and Jose Zaatini.

Soifer lost his first set 6-0 to Zaatini at No. 2 singles, then roared back with 6-4, 6-4 victories.

The XU women are 5-5 — they had dropped four of their previous five duals — and the men, climbing above .500 for the first time in nearly three weeks, are 5-4. Cumberland is 0-2, and Coastal Georgia is 4-3.

The Gold Nuggets will play 16th-ranked Coastal Georgia at 9 a.m. Saturday at AUM, and the Rush will 11th-ranked Cumberland at 12:30 p.m. at Lagoon Park.

Results: Men Women

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

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