HATTIESBURG, Mississippi — The men's tennis teams of Xavier University of Louisiana and William Carey battled through four lead changes Friday. The last one favored the Crusaders, who won on the third and fifth singles courts and rallied for a 5-4 victory in a matchup of ranked NAIA teams.The third-ranked Gold Rush (3-2) led 4-3 afterSantiago Perez defeated Elvyn Nguyen 6-4, 6-3 on the first singles court. But the 11th-ranked Crusaders (3-1) tied the dual when Hugo Robuchon defeated Samir Chikhaoui 6-3, 6-2 at No. 3, then clinched when Ben Griedelbach beat Chris Anders 6-3, 6-1 at No. 5 to end a memorable day for both teams.
"This match was great," XULA coach Alan Green said. "It was a great nationals-type atmosphere with the William Carey crowd being loud and raucous. Of course I hate the outcome, but the Rush had some good performances. We will see those guys again at our place (April 6, noon) and it will be another battle. That Carey team is a top-5 NAIA team. They just got their top two guys cleared before this match."
Perez and Shaikh Abdullah won in doubles and singles. They teamed on the first court for a 9-7 victory against Griedelbach and Tim Fischer, and Abdullah defeated Akanit Pumjit 2-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-2 at No. 2 singles.
The other Gold Rush point came at No. 2 doubles. Chikhaoui and Gabriel Niculescu defeated Nguyen and Enzo Simon 8-6.
The XULA men will play Texas A&M-Texarkana — a fifth-year program receiving votes in this week's NAIA coaches poll — at 11 a.m. Friday at XULA Tennis Center, then join the XULA women the following day for a tripleheader in Jackson, Miss.: 9 a.m. against Tougaloo, 1 p.m. against Rust and 4 p.m. against NCAA Division I Jackson State.
BOX SCORE
Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletics Director for Communications
Department of Athletics & Recreation
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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