Coach Alan
Green video interview
MOBILE, Ala. — When Xavier University of Louisiana
men's tennis lost 5-4 at Reinhardt March 29, Gold Rush coach
Alan Green
hoped for a postseason rematch with the Eagles — and he was confident the second
result would be different.
Green got his wish Thursday when the Gold Rush and
Eagles met in the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Championship tournament —
and Green's team produced a different result. XULA, ranked and seeded seventh, won 5-1
against Reinhardt, ranked and seeded second, to advance to the national semifinals
for the fourth consecutive year.
XULA's 9 a.m. Friday opponent will be Cardinal Stritch,
ranked and seeded third and a 5-2 winner against Middle Georgia.
What was different this time? XULA won 2-of-3 doubles
matches — it won once in the earlier meeting — and got singles
victories from seniors
Gabriel Niculescu and
Pierre Andrieu, neither of whom
won against Reinhardt in March.
Andrieu ended the dual when he defeated
Mario Belloni Tomas 6-1, 6-4. It was Andrieu's second clinch of the season
and first since Feb. 24.
Niculescu made it 4-1 with his 6-4, 6-4 victory
against Jordi Puig.
Ghassan Alansi was the first to finish in singles
after beating Myrohn Miranda 6-1, 6-4.
XULA's doubles lineup was retooled since the first Reinhardt meeting.
Alansi and Andrieu cruised to an 8-3 victory against Bruno Juarez and Miranda,
and
Shaikh Abdullah and
Santiago Perez won 9-7 against Martin Mendoza and Sam Alexander
after trailing 5-3 and 7-6.
It was the first time ever that the XULA men defeated
the NAIA's second-ranked team. In addition to the March loss to Reinhardt, there
were six losses to No. 2s from 2010-14.
XULA joined Lindsey Wilson (2016) as the only No. 7
seeds to reach the men's semifinals. It's just the second time that the No. 2 seed
will not be among the semifinalists.
Reinhardt, which reached the 2018 semifinals as a No. 14
seed, finished 17-3.
Quarterfinals — Thursday
Georgia Gwinnett 5, Keiser 0
William Carey 5, Point 1
Cardinal Stritch 5, Middle Georgia 2
XULA 5, Reinhardt 1
Semifinals — 9 a.m. Friday
No. 1 Georgia Gwinnett (25-0) vs. No. 5 William Carey (15-3)
No. 3 Cardinal Stritch (16-4) vs. No. 7 XULA (16-8)
