Results
MOBILE, Ala. — Xavier University of Louisiana men's tennis took another step forward and
made history Friday by defeating Lindsey Wilson 5-3 in the semifinals of the NAIA National Championship.
The Gold Rush (17-7), ranked and seeded third, became the first XU team in any sport to reach an NAIA championship final.
Xavier will play top-seeded and two-time defending champion Georgia Gwinnett (25-0) for the title at 1 p.m. Saturday at
Copeland-Cox Mobile Tennis Center.
"Fifteen down, five to go," XU coach
Alan Green said.
"That's how we've looked at this tournament all week — be the team that wins 20 matches (in four duals)."
Kyle Montrel and
Tushar Mandlekar won in doubles and singles for Xavier. Montrel earned two victories
for the second consecutive day and clinched with a 6-4, 6-3 victory against Alonso Tellez on the third singles court.
Mandlekar won the final 12 games in a 6-3, 6-0 victory against Tomas Depiaggio at No. 5. The
other XU singles victory was by freshman
Thomas Setodji, who is 17-0 after his 6-1, 6-4 decision
against Raul Mendez on the second court.
Xavier won 2-of-3 doubles matches for the third consecutive day. Mandlekar and
Adam Albrecht beat Javier Raya and Depiaggio 8-4,
and Montrel and
Karan Salwan won 8-5 against Tellez and Ignacio Huertas.
Denis Porcic won on the first courts in doubles and singles for the
Blue Raiders (17-4). He and Mendez rallied from a 7-6 deficit for a 9-8 (7-4) victory against
Setodji and
Kevin Chaouat. Then Porcic beat Salwan 6-2, 6-4 to tie the dual at 3.
Like Xavier, Lindsey Wilson was in its first semifinal after
being eliminated in the quarterfinals each of the previous four seasons.
"No match in the tournament has been easy, despite what the scores indicate,"
Green said. "But we've worked hard all year and played very well this week to
give ourselves a chance to win a national title."
Georgia Gwinnett beat fifth-seeded Dalton State 5-0 in the other semifinal for its 31st consecutive victory. The Grizzlies
won 5-1 at home against Xavier May 6 in the championship of an NAIA unaffiliated group tournament.
"We'll have to play better this time, and hopefully Georgia Gwinnett will not play as
well this time," Green said. "And the weather will have to be super hot."
