XU Nuggets beat No. 2 Carey; Rush defeat No. 6 Carey

HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Both Xavier University of Louisiana tennis teams defeated the highest ranked opponents in their histories Friday. The Gold Nuggets defeated NAIA No. 2 William Carey 5-1, and the Gold Rush beat sixth-ranked William Carey 5-4.

Kourtney Howell clinched for the XU women (12-7), who are ranked sixth, with a 6-3, 6-2 victory against Carola Orna at No. 1 singles. Viktor Svoboda clinched for the Gold Rush (11-6), ranked eighth, with a 6-2, 6-2 decision over Arnau Sanz at No. 4 singles.

It was the second consecutive dual that the Nuggets won on the road against a top-10 team. Before this season, the Nuggets' lone victory against a top-10 opponent was in 2005. The Nuggets are 8-0 this season against ranked NAIA opponents; all their losses are to NCAA Division I teams.

Howell and Brion Flowers scored the first point of the women's dual when they defeated Carola Orna and Maja Vuzem, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's second-ranked NAIA doubles team, 8-5. Amanda Materre and Olivia West rallied from a 6-3 deficit to beat Malin Collin and Anastasiya Zvyaginte 9-7.

The 2012-13 Xavier University of Louisiana women's tennis team
ROSTER
(Click on Photo to enlarge)

The singles victories of Howell, Flowers and Materre all occurred in matchups of ranked players. Howell was ranked eighth and Orna was ninth.

The women's dual was halted because of darkness. William Carey's campus facility does not have lights.

In the men's dual, Svoboda's singles victory was his ninth in a row. Svoboda, Nikita Soifer and Kyle Montrel all won in singles after losing in a 6-3 home loss to the Crusaders on Feb. 8. Svoboda and Soifer's 8-3 victory against Robin Semal and Arnau Sanz was their ninth in their last 10 doubles matches.

Montrel's 6-1, 6-4 victory against Semal tied the dual at 4. Svoboda clinched one point later.
The XU men have won eight of their last 10 duals, including five 5-4 victories.

"I'm so proud of our teams," XU coach Alan Green said. "These wins were special to us. We played well from the beginning. The guys played tough once again. William Carey was down a key player, but their other guys stepped up. We also had to overcome their home court on senior day for them.

"For the women, it was the top of our lineup that carried us to victory."

William Carey's women are 9-7, and the men are 7-4.

The Rush and the Nuggets will play Auburn Montgomery — whose men are ranked first and women are ranked third — at 2 p.m. Saturday at the new XU Tennis Center.

Results: Men Women

By Ed Cassiere, SID 
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA