Results:
Men
•
Women
ORLANDO, Fla. — For the first time ever,
Xavier University of Louisiana is the queen of HBCU women's tennis.
The Gold Nuggets won three finals Saturday and their first
overall team title of the HBCU National Championships
at USTA National Campus.
The Gold Rush won two finals and finished
second in men's team scoring.
"To see our women finally win the overall championship
is a great feeling," 16th-year XULA coach
Alan Green said. "All of the ladies
contributed to this team win. It was a roller coaster weekend for us, but we finished the job."
Four of XULA's five finals victories occurred against
NCAA Division I Morgan State.
Yi Chen Pao, a junior and an NAIA All-American
last season, was a double winner. Pao, a No. 3 seed, defeated Oriane Yehouenou 6-1, 6-0 for
the women's C-flight singles title, then teamed with
Charlene Goreau
to win 6-3 in the B-flight doubles final against Averiana Mitchell and
Dana Santiago.
Pao and Goreau were a No. 1 seed.
In singles, Pao did not lose a set in defeating four NCAA Division I opponents in three days.
XULA won both A-flight doubles finals.
Third-seeded
Mariia Borodii and
Farah Baklouti did it for the Nuggets with a 6-4 victory
against fourth-seeded Peggy Rooke and Asmara Faluki, and
Shaikh Abdullah and
Santiago Perez earned a title for the
Rush with a 6-3 decision against Shrey Gupta and Nihit Rawal.
Perez is a freshman who made his XULA
debut in this tournament.
Chris Anders won the C-flight singles consolation
title by defeating Jackson State's Fritz Jacobs 8-5.
"The men played well and fought hard. And we had some great doubles matches this weekend,"
Green said. "I'm really looking forward to what these guys can do next spring
because we have a lot of potential to be great."
It was the second fall tournament for the XULA
women and the first for the men. The Gold Nuggets and Gold Rush will conclude
their fall schedule on their campus in the XULA Invitational Oct. 12-14.
2018 HBCU National Tennis Championships — Final Team Scoring
Women
19 XULA
18 Morgan State
14 Florida A&M
13 Alabama A&M
13 Jackson State
8 Bethune-Cookman
7 Shaw
5 North Carolina A&T
4 Savannah State
2 Elizabeth City State
0 Johnson C. Smith
Men
25 Bethune-Cookman
20 XULA
17 North Carolina Central
14.5 Morgan State
6 Florida A&M
5.5 Jackson State
5 North Carolina A&T
3 Shaw
3 Alabama A&M
2 Virginia State
Coach Alan
Green and Yi
Chen Pao, who won two finals.