NEW ORLEANS — LSU-Alexandria's first-year women's tennis program brought some preseason buzz Sunday to Xavier University of Louisiana, but the Gold Nuggets won every set but one in a 9-0 victory.
    Xavier (3-2), ranked third in the NAIA and a national semifinalist in 2014 and 2013, won for the second straight day, this time against a team which received votes in the NAIA's preseason coaches poll and ranked 28th overall.
    "LSUA may be a new program, but they had our full attention," XU coach Alan Green said.
    The Gold Nuggets won 24-of-29 games to sweep the doubles, then surrendered two games or fewer in nine singles sets.
    LSUA's Sara Andrade forced a third-set tiebreaker at No. 4 singles by beating Brion Flowers 6-0, but Flowers won the match by prevailing 13-11 in a super-tiebreaker. Flowers won the first set 6-3.
    Flowers, Nour Abbes, Caroline Vernet, Carmen Nelson and Sha'Nel Bruins won in doubles and singles. Abbes, the NAIA's No. 1 singles player, beat Liz Arens 6-0, 6-0. Bruins clinched the dual with a 6-2, 6-2 decision against Betsabe Vasquez.
    Abbes and Nelson, the NAIA's No. 7 doubles team, beat Arens and Sabina Mardarenko 8-1. Nelson's and Jana van der Walt's singles victories included 6-0 first sets.
    The Generals, who won Saturday at Loyola, are 1-1.
    "We had a good weekend," said Green, whose women won 5-0 at home Saturday against Belhaven. "The team is getting healthier. We are starting to figure out some things with the lineup. We're just trying to keep working hard and make good decisions. Overall we are headed in a good direction."
    The Gold Nuggets' next dual will start at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at NCAA Division I's Louisiana-Lafayette. The Gold Nuggets and Gold Rush will play host to William Carey at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Women's Tennis Results
Xavier 9, LSU-Alexandria 0Sunday, February 8, 2015
XU Tennis Center, New Orleans, La.
Weather: Broken clouds, 74 degrees, wind SSW at 13 mph, humidity 45 percentXavier victories highlightedDoublesNo. 1 — Nour Abbes-Carmen Nelson (XU) d. Sabina Mardarenko-Liz Arens (LSUA) 8-1.No. 2 — Caroline Vernet-Brion Flowers (XU) d. Betsabe Vasquez-Nicolette Uscocovich (LSUA) 8-2.No. 3 — Sha'Nel Bruins-Brandi Nelson (XU) d. Sara Andrade-Ariana Cobos (LSUA) 8-2.SinglesNo. 1 — Nour Abbes (XU) d. Liz Arens (LSUA) 6-0, 6-0.No. 2 — Caroline Vernet (XU) d. Nicolette Uscocovich (LSUA) 6-2, 6-2.No. 3 — Carmen Nelson (XU) d. Sabina Mardarenko (LSUA) 6-0, 6-2.No. 4 — Brion Flowers (XU) d. Sara Andrade (LSUA) 6-3, 0-6, 1-0 (13-11).No. 5 — Sha'Nel Bruins (XU) d. Betsabe Vasquez (LSUA) 6-2, 6-2.No. 6 — Jana van der Walt (XU) d. Ariana Cobos (LSUA) 6-0, 7-6 (7-1).Order of Finish: Doubles — 3, 1, 2. Singles — 1, 5, 3, 2, 6, 4.
Records: Xavier 3-2, LSU-Alexandria 1-1.
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