ROME, Ga. — Xavier University of Louisiana's Angela Charles-Alfred and Lailaa Bashir are national champions.
     Top-seeded Charles-Alfred, a junior, and Bashir, a freshman, rallied from a 4-1 first-set deficit for a 6-4, 6-4 victory Saturday against Georgia Gwinnett's second-seeded Maria Genovese and Madeline Bosnjak in the women's NAIA doubles final of the ITA Cup tennis championships.
     The match was moved indoors to Lawrence Plantation after a rain delay of approximately five hours.
     Charles-Alfred and Bashir defeated Genovese and Bosnjak for the second time in four weeks. The XULA team won 6-4, 6-4 in the ITA NAIA South Regional final at XULA Sept. 22.
     Charles-Alfred and Bashir are 10-0 this semester as a doubles team. They started their run with a title in the A-doubles bracket of the HBCU National Championships.
     "Today was another awesome match against two of the best players in the NAIA," XULA head coach Alan Green said. "Angela and Lailaa played like grown women. It's really beautiful to watch them play together. They play a very exciting brand of doubles, something like we've never had here at Xavier. This championship was definitely earned, and they deserve it."
     The victory likely will make Charles-Alfred and Bashir the No. 1 team in the ITA NAIA preseason rankings in late November or early December.