Women's tennis freshman Mariia Borodii earned the honor for March after going 6-0 in singles and 6-1 in doubles to help the Gold Nuggets climb into the top five of the NAIA's national team rankings.
Borodii, from Zapozizhzhia, Ukraine, defeated the NAIA's eighth-, 18th- and 32nd-ranked singles players during March. At No. 1 doubles with Yi Chen Pao they beat the sixth-, 10th-, 15th- and 24th-ranked teams. Borodii helped the Gold Nuggets win all seven of their dual matches, including a pair of road victories against top-10 opponents.
On March 15 Borodii became the first XULA woman to earn simultaneous top-3 national rankings in singles and doubles. She was No. 2 in singles and No. 3 in doubles in the Oracle/ITA NAIA rankings and held on to those positions when new rankings were announced Wednesday.
For the season Borodii is 13-0 in singles and 13-3 in doubles with a current win streak of eight. "Mariia is arguably one of the toughest players I've ever coached, women or men. She has been a very hard worker for us as well as a leader by example," XULA coach Alan Green said. "She loves tennis but also really cares about every aspect of being on a tennis team. She is a very humble person who has overcome a lot of adversity to get to this point where she is today. It was been a great experience and blessing to have her on the team."
Borodii was chosen by the Greater New Orleans Sports Selection Committee, which has honored monthly winners since 1957. The Allstate Sugar Bowl sponsors the committee. Winners must be a native of the greater New Orleans area or compete for a team in the metropolitan region. Each of the monthly award winners will be honored during the summer at the Allstate Sugar Bowl's Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony.
XULA's other Greater New Orleans Amateur Athletes of the Month were Bruce Seals in men's basketball (February 1973, March 1973) and Brittany Powell in women's basketball (January 2010).
XULA's women and men will travel to Pensacola, Fla., for dual matches against NCAA Division II teams Valdosta State at 3 p.m. Saturday and West Florida at noon Sunday.
Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
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XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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