Wilson/ITA NAIA national awards for XU's Green, Didavi

MOBILE, Ala. — Alan Green and Loic Didavi collected multiple Wilson/ITA NAIA awards for Xavier University of Louisiana's tennis programs Monday night at a banquet honoring all the teams which qualified for this week's NAIA National Championship.
    
Green, in his 10th year as coach of the Gold Nuggets and Gold Rush, was chosen Women's National Coach of the Year. He also won the Region IV Coach of the Year awards for men and women. Didavi was selected the National and Region IV Men's Senior Player of the Year.
    

Loic

Alan Green

Green's women are 17-7 and ranked No. 1 in the NAIA, and his men are 14-7 and ranked No. 6. Both teams have byes in Tuesday's opening round of the national championship and will play second-round duals Wednesday — the Rush at 9 a.m. against Belhaven or Spring Arbor and the Nuggets at 1 p.m. against Coastal Carolina or Indiana Wesleyan. All duals will be played at Copeland-Cox Tennis Center.
    
Both XU teams earned automatic bids to nationals by winning unaffiliated group tournaments in April.
    
"I can't believe I've won this (national) award," Green said, "especially from where we were a year ago."
    
The XU women were 11-40 the previous two seasons, 7-22 in 2012. This season the Gold Nuggets became the first team in any XU sport to earn a No. 1 ranking from the NAIA.
    
"This award is for our women who put in the work and made all this possible," Green said.

 Didavi, a senior from Cotonou, Benin, and a graduate of Lycée Jean Dautet, La Rochelle, is ranked fourth among NAIA singles players and 15th in doubles with Kyle Montrel. Didavi is 15-6 in singles and 16-5 in doubles this season, including three singles victories and five doubles victories against NCAA Division I teams. This is Didavi's second season at Xavier after transferring from perennial NAIA power Auburn Montgomery.

"Loic has been a program changer for our men's tennis team since the moment he stepped on campus," Green said. "He has been our leader on and off the court. In addition to his accomplishments as a player, he has been our hardest worker in practice."
    
The banquet site was the Renaissance Riverview Plaza Hotel.

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