Charlene
Goreau video interview
MOBILE, Ala. — Xavier University of Louisiana
women's tennis adroitly handled one rematch Thursday, but it will need a similar
performance Friday to reach its first-ever NAIA National Championship final.
The Gold Nuggets, ranked and seeded third, won 5-0
in the quarterfinals against William Woods, ranked and seeded sixth. The score
was the same as their March 22 meeting at XULA, and
Charlene Goreau clinched
both times with straight-set singles victories.
XULA (19-5) will play in the semifinals at
1 p.m. Friday against Keiser (20-4), the last team to beat the Nuggets this season
— 7-2 on April 19 in Pensacola, Fla. —
and the only ranked opponent out of 14 to beat XULA in 2019.
"It's nationals now, so it's going to be tight,"
said Goreau. "I think we can do something against (Keiser)."
The Gold Nuggets produced back-to-back 5-0 victories at nationals
for the first time ever, and sophomore
Mariia Borodii won in singles at nationals
for the first time after four non-completed matches.
Doubles produced two routs — Goreau and
Angela Charles-Alfred
won 8-1 for the second straight day, then Borodii and
Farah Baklouti won by the same score — and a two-hour thriller
in which
Lacee Ancar and
Angelica De Vincenzis won 9-8 (7-4) after trailing
3-1 and leading 6-4.
Borodii made it 4-0 with her 6-1, 6-1 victory against
Julia Perez Wienese, and Goreau clinched by beating Zlata Shuraeva 6-0, 6-4.
The Gold Nuggets won first sets in each of the four unfinished matches.
Goreau and Charles-Alfred are 5-0 in two years as a doubles team at nationals.
Borodii and Baklouti are 21-0 as a doubles team this season, and each has a 26-1 doubles record in 2018-19.
Keiser is ranked and seeded second and was the national runner-up a year ago.
Quarterfinals — Thursday
Georgia Gwinnett 5, Brenau 1
William Carey 5, SCAD Savannah 3
Keiser 5, Middle Georgia 1
XULA 5, William Woods 0
Semifinals — 1 p.m. Friday
No. 1 Georgia Gwinnett (18-1) vs. No. 4 William Carey (15-2)
No. 2 Keiser (20-4) vs. No. 3 XULA (19-5)
