XU's Montrel, Abbes selected GCAC Players of the Week

(l) Kyle Montrel and (r) Nour Abbes

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Kyle Montrel and Nour Abbes are the first recipients of Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week tennis awards in 2014. The awards were based on performances from Feb. 10-16.
   
Montrel, a sophomore from Atlanta and a graduate of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, won the men's honor after going 2-2 in singles and 3-0 in doubles. He won in singles and doubles Friday in a 6-3 victory at then-NAIA No. 15 William Carey. Montrel teamed with Nikita Soifer for a 9-7 victory against the Crusaders' Jody Claassen and Philipp Mueller, the NAIA's ninth-ranked doubles team.
   
Montrel set a GCAC record by winning the men's weekly award four times in 2013.

Abbes, a freshman from Tunis, Tunisia, and a graduate of Lycée Sportif d'El Menzah, was 3-0 in singles and 2-1 in doubles. Abbes won in doubles with Kourtney Howell and in singles on Friday to help the Gold Nuggets win 9-0 at then-No. 2 William Carey.
   
Beginning Friday, the Gold Nuggets will play four duals in four days. They'll visit McNeese State at 2 p.m. Friday, then play at the XU Tennis Center against Alabama State at 3 p.m. Saturday and Southeastern Louisiana at 1 p.m. Sunday. On Monday the Nuggets will travel to Mobile, Ala., for a 4 p.m. neutral-site match against NAIA No. 5 Brenau at the University of Mobile. Xavier's men will play just once during that time — 3 p.m. Saturday at home against Alabama State.
   
Xavier's men are 2-4 and ranked eighth in the NAIA, and the women are 3-3 and ranked sixth. The Gold Rush and the Gold Nuggets have been in the top 10 simultaneously since March 5, 2013 — a streak of nine polls.
   
SCHEDULE NOTES:  The Nuggets' dual against Brenau was pushed back one hour . . . Both XU teams will play Coastal Georgia at 9 a.m. on March 7 in the opening round of the AUM Invitational at Montgomery, Ala. Pikeville's men are entered; so are the men's and women's teams of Auburn Montgomery, Belhaven, Campbellsville, Cumberland and Martin Methodist. Eleven of the competing teams have top-25 rankings this week.


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