NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana won at the top three singles flights Tuesday, but missed on other opportunities for points in a 6-3 women's tennis loss to Southern Miss.
It was the final dual for the Gold Nuggets (11-8), ranked seventh in the NAIA, before their trip to California to play four ranked opponents. Xavier lost at home for the second time in nine duals this season.
For the first time in
Alan Green's 12 years as XU's coach, the Gold Nuggets won at the top three singles flights against a non-HBCU member of NCAA Division I.
Nour Abbes defeated Carolin Drescher 6-0, 7-5,
Caroline Vernet beat Lisa Schneider 6-3, 6-3, and
Carmen Nelson, snapping a four-match losing streak, defeated Claudia Castella 7-6 (11-9), 6-3.
But Xavier dropped all three doubles matches and had strong chances to win two of them.
Brion Flowers and
Brandi Nelson led 4-1 before falling 8-6 to Kathrin Waidner and Elena Roca. Abbes and
Carmen Nelson had two match points and a 2-0 lead in the tiebreaker before losing 9-8 (7-4) to Schneider and Castella.
Simone-Alyse Ewell forced a third set in singles before losing 6-2, 1-6, 1-0 (10-8) to Karina Gurgenyan at No. 5.
"We had so many opportunities to beat Southern Miss," Green said. "If you had told me this morning we would win the top three singles matches, I would've told you we would get five points.
"We had a chance to get a lead in doubles but let it slip away. We fought hard in singles. It's better that something like this happens now than in May at nationals. Hopefully we'll learn something from this."
Southern Miss is 8-7.
Xavier's women and men's teams will fly to California early Friday, then the Nuggets will play NAIA No. 11 Westmont in Santa Barbara at 2 p.m. PDT that day. The Nuggets' other duals will start at noon Sunday against No. 24 Northwestern Ohio at Whittier College, 1 p.m. Monday at No. 15 Vanguard in Costa Mesa and 10 a.m. Tuesday against No. 19 Lewis-Clark State at Biola College in La Mirada.
The first Gold Rush dual in California will start at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at No. 8 Westmont.
Women's Tennis Results
Southern Miss 6, Xavier 3
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
XU Tennis Center, New Orleans, La.
Weather: Cloudy, 73 degrees, wind E at 10 mph, humidity 67 percent
Xavier victories highlighted
Doubles
No. 1 — Alex Kitchen-Carolin Drescher (USM) d. Caroline Vernet - Simone-Alyse Ewell (XU) 8-3.
No. 2 — Lisa Schneider-Claudia Castella (USM) d. Nour Abbes-Carmen Nelson (XU) 9-8 (7-4).
No. 3 — Kathrin Waidner-Elena Roca (USM) d. Brion Flowers-Brandi Nelson (XU) 8-6.
Singles
No. 1 — Nour Abbes (XU) d. Carolin Drescher (USM) 6-0, 7-5.
No. 2 — Caroline Vernet (XU) d. Lisa Schneider (USM) 6-3, 6-3.
No. 3 — Carmen Nelson (XU) d. Claudia Castella (USM) 7-6 (11-9), 6-3.
No. 4 — Alex Kitchen (USM) d. Brion Flowers (XU) 6-0, 6-3.
No. 5 — Karina Gurgenyan (USM) d. Simone-Alyse Ewell (XU) 6-2, 1-6, 1-0 (10-8).
No. 6 — Elena Roca (USM) d. Brandi Nelson (XU) 6-1, 6-1.
Order of Finish: Doubles — 1, 3, 2. Singles — 4, 6, 1, 5, 2, 3.
Records: Xavier 11-8, Southern Miss 8-7.
