Rush, Nuggets beat ranked teams from Northwood (Fla.)

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — Loic Didavi's three-set singles victory gave Xavier University of Louisiana a 5-4 men's tennis decision against Northwood (Fla.) on Wednesday.

The Gold Nuggets defeated Northwood 6-3.

All four teams are ranked in the NAIA. Xavier's men and women are eighth, Northwood's women are 14th, and Northwood's men are 15th.

The XU men (10-5) rallied from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits to increase their win streak to four duals, a season best. They've won seven of their last eight duals. The Nuggets (10-7) have won six of their last eight and are 6-0 this season against ranked NAIA opponents.

Didavi dropped a first-set tiebreaker 7-0 to Alvaro Iturriaga but won the next two sets 6-2, 6-3.

Didavi has eight consecutive singles victories and is 5-0 this semester in split-set matches.

"What can I say about how our guys competed today?" XU coach Alan Green said. "Northwood is very good and could have easily won this match. Today Loic was the guy who gutted out a victory for us when it was on the line."

Also with an eight-match win streak are Nikita Soifer and Viktor Svoboda, who gave Xavier its only doubles point with an 8-6 victory against David Cathalina and Nikita Borodatov. Soifer beat Guilherme Azambuja 6-0, 6-2 in singles, and Svoboda improved his win streak to seven with a 6-3, 6-1 decision against Borodatov. Scoring the other Gold Rush point was Kyle Montrel, a 6-1, 6-2 winner against Cathalina.

The Gold Rush have five victories this season against teams in the current NAIA top 25.

In the women's dual, the Gold Nuggets won for the first time in two years despite singles losses by Kourtney Howell and Amanda Materre. Picking up the slack included freshman Brion Flowers and sophomore transfer Olivia West, both winners in doubles and singles.

In doubles, Flowers and Howell defeated Rose Bellevue and Adelaide Wood 8-1, and West and Materre defeated Julia Ferraz and Melanie Snowberger 8-4. Flowers beat Bellevue 6-0, 6-0 in singles, and West clinched the dual with her 0-6, 6-2, 6-0 decision against Snowberger. Also rallying from a first-set deficit was Amber Brown, who defeated Ferraz 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.

The Nuggets' other singles winner was Simone-Alyse Ewell, who beat Livia Toth 6-3, 6-3.

"Our women got some good production from our depth, which was much needed because our top of the lineup has been carrying us for the most part," Green said.
Justyna Wojcik, No. 7 in the ITA's NAIA singles rankings, defeated Kourtney Howell, who is eighth, 7-5, 7-5.

Northwood's men are 9-4, and the women are 7-5.

Both XU teams will conclude their Florida trip with duals at Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach. Embry-Riddle's men are ranked second in the NAIA, and the women are seventh.

Results: Men Women

By Ed Cassiere, SID
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA