 Nour Abbes Freshman 1st Team All-American |  Kourtney Howell Senior 1st Team All-American |  Brion Flowers Sophomore 2nd Team All-American |
NEW ORLEANS — For the second consecutive year, Xavier University of Louisiana has produced three All-Americans in women's tennis. The NAIA announced Monday that Kourtney Howell and Nour Abbes were chosen to the first team, and Brion Flowers made the second team.
Howell is the Gold Nuggets' first three-time All-American and joins Anastesia Opata (2008, 2009) as the program's only two-time first-team All-American. Flowers is a repeat second-team selection and the first Gold Nugget to earn All-America as a freshman and sophomore. It's the fourth honor in eight days for Abbes, the Wilson/ITA NAIA National and Region IV Rookie of the Year and winner of the Marvin P. Richmond Outstanding Player Award at the NAIA National Championship.
The trio helped Xavier finish 17-7, earn No. 1 in the final two coaches polls before the national tournament and reach the national semifinals for the second consecutive year. The Nuggets defeated eventual national champion Georgia Gwinnett 5-3 on April 26 for the championship of the NAIA Unaffiliated Group 2 Tournament.
Howell, a senior from Cypress, Texas, and a graduate of Cypress Woods High School, was 15-9 in singles and 23-9 in doubles this season. She and Flowers won the doubles title at USTA/ITA NAIA South Regional Championships and placed third in NAIA division of National Small College Championships.
Abbes, from Tunis, Tunisia, and a graduate of Lycée Sportif d'El Menzah, is the first XU women's tennis freshman to earn first-team NAIA All-America. (Flowers was second team as a freshman in 2013.) Abbes was 17-0 in singles and 16-2 in doubles, 12-0 with sophomore Simone-Alyse Ewell.
Flowers, a sophomore from Lafayette, La., and a graduate of St. Thomas More High School, was 10-13 in singles and 23-8 in doubles. Her three-set singles decision against Auburn Montgomery's Paula Diaz on March 9 clinched the Nuggets' first-ever victory against an NAIA No. 1 team, and she and Howell won four times against top-13 doubles opponents.
The ITA will announce its NAIA All-Americans after compiling its final singles and doubles rankings.
Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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