MOBILE, Ala. — Xavier University of Louisiana women's tennis lost 5-2 Friday to Keiser in the semifinals of the NAIA National Championship tournament.
     The Gold Nuggets (19-6), ranked and seeded third, fell to 0-5 in the national semifinals — all in the last seven seasons — but still had an outstanding season. Their winning percentage was their best since 2002, remarkable considering that XULA played 15 times against ranked opponents. However, the Gold Nuggets won 13 of those duals.
     Angela Charles-Alfred won in doubles and singles for XULA. She and Charlene Goreau, No. 4 in the Oracle ITA/NAIA doubles rankings, teamed for a 9-8 (8-6) victory against No. 3 Sarah Schaerer and Lorene Foerste. Charles-Alfred won 6-1, 6-0 against Dugleisy Linarez on the third singles court to cut the Seahawks' lead to 3-2.
     But Keiser (21-4), ranked and seeded second, then got victories from Aleksandra Grela and Anais Gabriel to advance to the final for the second consecutive year. Grela defeated Farah Baklouti 6-2, 6-2 on the fourth court, and Gabriel clinched on court one with her 6-3, 6-4 victory against Goreau.
     Baklouti and Borodii suffered their first loss of the season as a doubles team after 21 consecutive victories — 8-3 to Grela and Emma Henriksen.
     It was the final collegiate competition for Goreau, a three-time first-team NAIA All-American — this season's honors have yet to be announced — and the 2018-19 XULA Female Athlete of the Year.
     Keiser will play three-time defending champion Georgia Gwinnett for the title at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Grizzlies defeated William Carey 5-0 in the other semifinal. Georgia Gwinnett defeated Keiser 5-2 in the 2018 final.

Semifinals — Friday
Keiser 5, XULA 2
Georgia Gwinnett 5, William Carey 0

Final — 1 p.m. Saturday
No. 1 Georgia Gwinnett (19-1) vs. No. 2 Keiser (21-4)