Point made — Skyhawks squeeze past Gold Rush 5-4

VALLEY, Alabama — For the second straight day and the third time this season, Xavier University of Louisiana lost 5-4 to a ranked NAIA men's tennis opponent.
     
Point, ranked 13th, built a 4-0 lead and held on to upset the seventh-ranked Gold Rush.
     
The XULA men will stay on the road and play Texas A&M-Texarkana at 9 a.m. Sunday at a neutral site, Roger Scott Tennis Center in Pensacola, Fla.
     
The Skyhawks (10-5) won all three doubles matches, including 8-0 at No. 3. They clinched when Joe Klokow defeated Shaikh Abdullah 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 on the third singles court. That made it 5-3.
     
XULA won 4-of-6 singles matches. Santiago Perez defeated Christian Garay 6-3, 7-5 at No. 1, Gabriel Niculescu beat Julien Pereira 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) at No. 4, Samir Chikhaoui beat Patrick Tobacco 7-5, 6-3 at No. 5, and Pierre Andrieu defeated Clayton Godfrey 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 at No. 6.
     
Point capped a 7-0 March that included five victories against ranked opponents.
     
The Sunday matchup with TAMTU will be XULA's second this season. The Gold Rush won 9-0 at home March 8.

BOX SCORE

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletics Director for Communications
Department of Athletics & Recreation
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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