Georgetown (Ky.) defeated Xavier's women 6-3.
The Gold Rush (10-5), ranked eighth in the NAIA, never trailed, but William Carey tied the dual at 4 when Younes Hidass defeated Sean Richardson 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 at No. 5 singles. Then Giles-Osborn, ranked 24th in NAIA singles by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, overcame a first-set loss to score his second victory in his last six singles matches.
Giles-Osborn and Hassan Abbas won in doubles and singles for XU's men, who won two of three duals in this event. Fourteenth-ranked Giles-Osborn and Sean Richardson beat Toni Gauta and Hidass 8-2 at No. 2 doubles, and Abbas and Zach Taylor defeated Jody Claassen and Thomas Rizk 9-8 (8-6) at No. 1. Abbas gave Xavier a 3-1 lead when he beat Rizk 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2 singles.
Abbas is 4-0 in singles and 4-0 in doubles in two seasons against William Carey.
Freshman Amir Rahbar scored Xavier's fourth point with a 6-3, 6-0 decision against 50th-ranked Gauta at No. 4.
"The match was a grinder until the end," XU Coach Alan Green said. "William Carey has a very good team, and the match could have gone either way. They are very underrated and easily a top-15 team.
"The atmosphere was loud and raucous at a neutral site. We will have to deal with a team with a loud crowd and a bad taste in their mouth when we play at Carey in a few weeks. It will make for a good match, and we can't wait to play them again."
The Gold Nuggets (2-9) lost their seventh in a row and, for the fourth straight time, forfeited the No. 3 doubles match and the No. 5 and 6 singles matches because of a depleted roster. But the XU women -- specifically, sisters Melissa and Nicole DeLoach -- still won three matches, as many as they won in their previous six duals combined.
The DeLoaches won 8-0 against Emily Krick and Rhyan Martin 8-0 at No. 2 doubles. Then Nicole beat Shelby Eden 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4 singles, and Melissa followed with a 6-0, 6-2 decision over Natalie Hill at No. 3 to cut Georgetown's lead to 4-3. But 47th-ranked Adrienne Bartlett clinched for the Tigers (2-5) at No. 1 when she defeated Carmen Nelson 6-4, 6-2.
Georgetown was ranked 25th in the NAIA preseason poll and 15 points from the top 25 in last week's rankings.
The Nuggets' next match will start at 3 p.m. Wednesday against Rutgers at City Park Tennis Center, and it will be their fifth of the season against an NCAA Division I opponent. The XU men, who have played seven duals in the last 10 days, will return to competition in a 3:30 p.m. makeup March 25 against city rival Loyola at the University of New Orleans.
Xavier drops pair of duals at AUM Invitational
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (March 12, 2011) — Both Xavier University of Louisiana tennis teams lost Saturday in the AUM Invitational. The Gold Rush, ranked eighth in the NAIA, lost 9-0 to unbeaten and fifth-ranked Oklahoma Christian. The Gold Nuggets, ranked 24th, lost 5-1 to Campbellsville.
Xavier scored its lone point at No. 2 women's doubles when sisters Melissa and Nicole DeLoach defeated Stacey Drew and Kristen Hamrick 8-3.
Xavier won only three other sets. Zach Taylor of the Gold Rush won a second-set tiebreaker in a 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 1-0 (10-7) loss to Thomas Van Cauter at No. 1 singles, and the DeLoach sisters were both up a set when their dual was halted.
The Gold Rush (9-5) lost for the third time in four duals, including two losses to top-10 opponents. The XU men lost for the second time in as many seasons to Oklahoma Christian (11-0) since the Gold Rush's 5-4 victory over the Eagles in the opening round of the 2009 NAIA National Championship.
"The score of the men's match does not indicate how it was played," XU Coach Alan Green said. "This was a competitive fight and the guys played real hard. It took four hours to knock us off. I'm really proud of the fight we put up against a potential national champion. Oklahoma Christian has that good of a team."
Xavier's women extended their losing streak to six duals, their longest in Green's eight seasons. Campbellsville is 2-2.
Both XU teams will play their final duals of this event at 9:30 a.m. Sunday. The Gold Nuggets will play Georgetown (Ky.), and the Gold Rush will play William Carey. Both opponents received votes in last week's coaches polls.
By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
Xavier University of Louisiana
Visit: XULA Athletics
