Rush, Nuggets win on road vs. ranked Mobile teams

MOBILE, Alabama — Xavier University of Louisiana scored a pair of tennis victories against ranked NAIA opponents Friday. The Gold Rush defeated the University of Mobile 6-3, and the Gold Nuggets beat the UM women 7-2.
     
It was the fourth consecutive victory for the Gold Rush (5-6), ranked second in the NAIA, and the first loss of the season for the Rams (4-1), who are 11th. The Gold Nuggets (4-7) are ranked 13th, and the Mobile women (2-3) are 12th.
     
It was a memorable XULA debut for Angela Charles-Alfred, who teamed with Mariia Borodii to rally for a 9-8 (7-4) victory against the ITA's fifth-ranked NAIA women's doubles team, Mariah Plauth and Sina Marchione. Charles-Alfred and Borodii, who are freshmen, trailed 7-4 in games before winning four in a row.     

Gabriel Niculescu clinched for the Gold Rush with a 6-3, 6-1 victory against Javier Ahumada. The XULA men have 15 consecutive dual-match victories against ranked NAIA teams not named Georgia Gwinnett. That streak began in 2016.
     
It was the first tennis matchups between Mobile and XULA since Mobile left the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference in 2010 for the Southern States Athletic Conference.
     
The XULA men won for the third consecutive day. They shut out NCAA Division I opponents Nicholls State and Prairie View A&M the previous two days.
     
The Gold Nuggets' victory was their third of the season against a top-20 opponent. All occurred on the road.
     
Both XULA teams will be back on the road next Friday to play top-10 William Carey teams at 3 p.m. in Hattiesburg, Miss.

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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