Rush defeat 9th-ranked Union (Ky.) 5-0 at nationals

MOBILE, Ala. — Shaikh Abdullah and Santiago Perezwon in doubles and singles Wednesday morning to lead Xavier University of Louisiana men's tennis to a 5-0 victory against Union (Ky.) in the round of 16 of the NAIA National Championship tournament.
     
The Gold Rush (15-8), ranked and seeded seventh, reached the quarterfinals for the eighth consecutive year. XULA will play Reinhardt (17-2), ranked and seeded second, at 9 a.m. Thursday. Admission is free for all rounds at Copeland-Cox Mobile Tennis Center (851 Gaillard Drive, zip code 36608, phone 251-208-5181).
     
Abdullah and Perez, No. 6 in the Oracle ITA/NAIA doubles rankings, began a sweep of doubles with an 8-1 victory against 14th-ranked Srdan Pejic and Simon Campos. Pierre Andrieu and Ghassan Alansi then beat regionally ranked Lois Castellon and Mark Kuhnel 8-3, and Chris Anders and Gabriel Niculescu won four of the last five games to rally for an 8-6 victory against Ewan Mckinnie and Santiago Diaz.
     
Perez, ranked second nationally, stretched his singles win streak to 17 with a 6-2, 6-3 decision against 29th-ranked Castellon. Abdullah clinched by defeating No. 42 Campos 6-1, 6-4. XULA led in two of the four unfinished matches.
     
Union (13-9) was ranked ninth and seeded 10th. XULA is 6-5 this season against ranked opponents.
     
XULA will get a rematch with Reinhardt, which defeated the Gold Rush 5-4 in Canton, Ga., March 29.



•  Facebook video of No. 1 doubles match
•  Coach Alan Green video interview

BOX SCORE

Quarterfinals — 9 a.m. Thursday
No. 1 Georgia Gwinnett (24-0) vs. No. 8 Keiser (17-6)
No. 5 William Carey (14-3) vs. No. 4 Point (16-6)
No. 3 Cardinal Stritch (17-4) vs. No. 6 Middle Georgia (14-3)
No. 7 XULA (15-8) vs. No. 2 Reinhardt (17-2)

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