McNeese beats XU Nuggets; Abbes still unbeaten in singles

Nour Abbes

LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana  --  Xavier University of Louisiana's Nour Abbes remained unbeaten in singles, but McNeese State defeated the Gold Nuggets 6-1 in women's tennis Friday.
    
Abbes, a freshman, improved to 5-0 with her 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (10-3) victory against Klaudia Gawlik at the top flight.
    
The Gold Nuggets' next most competitive match was at No. 5 singles, where freshman Brandi Nelson lost 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (10-3) to Anastasia Surkova.
    
McNeese (3-3) won the doubles point with victories at the first and third flights. Playing together for the first time since October were Kourtney Howell and Brion Flowers, who lost 8-1 to Gwalik and Sara Castellano. Howell and Flowers finished third in the NAIA division of the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships during the fall and were ranked third entering the spring semester.
    
"Overall not a good day for the Nuggets," XU coach Alan Green said. "We struggled today at the positions we did well at last year with this team. We need more production throughout the lineup. We will get this thing figured out."
    
Xavier is 3-4 and ranked sixth in the NAIA. Three of the Nuggets' losses are to NCAA Division I opponents.
    
Green said the XU men's and women's home duals Saturday against Alabama State were canceled. Next for the Nuggets will be a 1 p.m. Sunday dual against Southeastern Louisiana at the XU Tennis Center. The next Gold Rush dual will start at 1 p.m. Friday at West Florida.


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