NEW ORLEANS — NAIA tennis power Xavier University of Louisiana capped a three-day home win streak against NCAA Division I teams with Sunday victories against Jackson State.
The Gold Rush (10-8), ranked second, needed less than two hours to defeat the Tigers 5-0 and win for the ninth time in 11 duals. The Gold Nuggets (13-7), ranked fifth, overcame a doubles deficit and won 5-2 for their 10th consecutive victory.
XULA's women defeated Southern Friday, and the men beat Troy Saturday.
Results: Men • Women
The home stand will conclude Thursday when both XULA teams meet William Carey at 1 p.m. The Carey women are ranked sixth in the NAIA, and the men are 13th. New NAIA coaches polls will be announced Tuesday.
Because Jackson State's men had five players and forfeited a pair of matches, the Gold Rush needed just three on-court victories to clinch the dual. XULA got them with ease. In doubles, Catalin Fifea and Chris Anders defeated Vishu Prasad and Fritz Jacobs 8-0, and Antoine Richard and Shaikh Abdullah improved to 3-0 against DIs with an 8-4 decision against Andrey Alawi and Stylianos Gkontsaris. Samir Chikhaoui clinched in singles when he beat Joan Sanson 6-2, 6-1.
Jackson State's women won 2-of-3 doubles matches, but the Gold Nuggets won four straight in singles to avenge a 4-1 loss at JSU from a year ago. Angela Charles-Alfred and Farah Baklouti both won 6-0, 6-0 in singles — Charles-Alfred against Oni Jones and Baklouti against Chloe Gauvreau-Dredge.
Sunday also was Baklouti's birthday.
Charlene Goreau continued to dominate on the second singles court with a 6-2, 6-0 victory against Lucia Solis. Yi Chen Pao clinched when she beat Daria Butorina 6-4, 6-1.
Goreau, a two-time NAIA All-American, has won her last 11 singles decisions. In her last 10 matches — nine wins and one unfinished — Goreau won 118 games while losing 13. That's a 90-percent success rate.
Pao and Borodii earned XULA's only doubles victory with an 8-0 decision against Jones and Gauvreau-Dredge. Borodii, unbeaten in singles as a collegian, and Tyler Smith, who entered with a 13-match win streak, split sets in their matchup, which was halted after Pao clinched.
Jackson State's men are 5-18, and its women are 8-13.
NOTES: The XULA women's win streak is the program's longest since 11 straight in 2013 . . . It was the first time in two years that XULA beat DI men's and women's teams on the same day . . . Temperature at the start was 52 degrees — 18 degrees colder than it was Saturday.
Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
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XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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