MOBILE, Alabama -- A Friday rainstorm caused the postponement of Xavier University of Louisiana's women's semifinal dual match against Georgia Gwinnett at the NAIA National Championships.
Competition will resume at 8:30 a.m. CDT Saturday at Copeland-Cox Mobile Tennis Center.
Xavier led the dual 2-1 when play was suspended at 3:50 p.m. because of lightning strikes in the area. Enough rain quickly followed to make the courts unplayable for the remainder of the day.
The Gold Nuggets, in the semifinals for the third consecutive year and seeded fifth, trailed in 5-of-6 singles matches, none of which were completed.
For the second consecutive day, Brion Flowers and Brandi Nelson scored Xavier's first point. They defeated Chiara Di Salvo and Helga Pinones-Haltenhoff 8-4 at No. 3 doubles.
Georgia Gwinnett, the defending champion and No. 1 seed, tied the dual when Valeria Podda and Laura Wehner defeated Caroline Vernet and Simone-Alyse Ewell 8-5 at the top flight. The Grizzlies' Luma Schwab and Victoria Svensson rallied from four games down to tie their match with Nour Abbes and Carmen Nelson, but Abbes and Nelson won the final two games and prevailed 9-7.
"We got off to a really good start in doubles," XU coach Alan Green said. "We got what we wanted."
Georgia Gwinnett won the first set in 5-of-6 singles matches. The exception was at No. 2, where Vernet led Wehner 6-0, 3-3.
Abbes trailed Podda 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 at No. 1 in a matchup of two of the NAIA's top three singles players. Carmen Nelson trailed Judith van Fraaijenhoven 6-4, 1-2 at No. 3, Ewell trailed Schwab 6-3, 1-1 at No. 4, Flowers trailed Di Salvo 6-2, 3-2, and Brandi Nelson trailed Pinones-Haltenhoff 6-2, 5-2.
"We're in a war in the singles because Georgia Gwinnett has stepped it up," Green said. "It looks like this is going to go to the wire. (Georgia Gwinnett) had a lot of momentum. The rain delay is good for some, but not all.
We'll finish the job tomorrow and see what happens."
The Gold Nuggets seek to become the first XU team in any sport to reach the championship round of an NAIA national tournament.
The other women's semifinal between second-seeded Auburn Montgomery and third-seeded Lindsey Wilson also will resume at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. The men's championship dual between Georgia Gwinnett and Embry-Riddle (Fla.) was pushed back a half-hour to 9:30 a.m.
The women's championship is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Ed Cassiere, Sports Information DirectorXAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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