NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Mariia Borodii and Santiago Perez are Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Players of the Week in tennis for April 15-21. The GCAC announced the honors Tuesday.
     Borodii, a sophomore from Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, ended the regular season Saturday with a 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) victory against Jennifer Rink that clinched Xavier's 4-3 victory at NCAA Division II No. 15 West Florida. Not only did Borodii trail by a set against Rink, but Borodii also trailed 5-4 in the second set, 5-3 in the third set and 5-1 in the tiebreaker before winning the last six points.
     Borodii was 3-0 in singles and, with partner Yi Chen Pao, 2-1 in doubles. Borodii won in doubles and singles in an 8-1 victory at NAIA No. 11 Mobile.
     Perez, a freshman from Pereira, Colombia, won all three of his singles matches, including road decisions against NAIA No. 47 Boris Klingebiel of Mobile and NCAA Division II No. 3 Serdar Bojadjiev of West Florida. Perez will enter the postseason with 16 straight singles wins — all at the No. 1 position and Xavier's second-longest streak of the last eight seasons. He defeated five ranked players in his last 11 matches. He's won his last 20 sets. Perez is No. 2 in the ITA NAIA singles rankings.
     Borodii's GCAC weekly award is her first this season and fifth of her career. It's Perez's first award.
     Both XULA teams are expected to receive at-large bids to next month's NAIA National Championship tournament in Mobile, Ala.