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        NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana sophomore Lailaa Bashir is 53-4 as a collegiate tennis player after winning a pair of titles Sunday in the ITA NAIA Gulf Regional Championships at XULA.
        Bashir and Angela Charles-Alfred, top-seeded in doubles, defeated William Carey's unseeded Valeriya Shubrina and Sabrina Goetzen 6-4, 6-2 in a morning doubles final. Bashir, seeded second in singles, won that title during the afternoon, beating unseeded newcomer Kyra Akinnibi 6-2, 6-4 in an all-XULA final.
        Bashir won seven matches — four in singles, three in doubles — at this three-day event, the first of the 2020-21 academic year for the XULA women.
        The titles qualified Bashir and Charles-Alfred for the ITA Oracle Cup Oct. 16-18 at Rome, Ga. A year ago at that event, Bashir and Charles-Alfred won XULA's first-ever ITA Cup small-college national title.
        "I know it's going to be demanding to play doubles and singles," Bashir said. "I'm sure playing both will take a toll, but hopefully the effort will still be there."
        XULA didn't lead the doubles match until breaking Goetzen's serve in a deuce game for a 4-3 advantage. Bashir and Charles-Alfred broke Goetzen in the third and seventh games of the second set.
        Bashir and Charles-Alfred never lost a service game and during one stretch won 18 consecutive points on serve.
        "Our serving really helped us," Charles-Alfred said. "That was important because we had been missing so many shots at the net."
        William Carey head coach Mark Lux, however, didn't notice any flaws.
        "Their serving is great," Lux said of the XULA duo. "They're very good at the net and aggressive. They have great communication and constantly put pressure on the opponent. They're very well coached. In big matches, they always play consistent."
        In the singles final, Bashir broke Akinnibi — who scored victories against the No. 1 and 4 seeds — twice in each set. Bashir served out each set at love.
        Bashir said she played in a better rhythm during the singles final than in doubles. She couldn't say the same about the rest she got overnight.
        "I woke up six times," Bashir said. "It's been like that the last couple of weeks. Just stressed out. It's not all about tennis. I have midterms this week. There's a test on Tuesday."
        But Bashir passed every test Sunday.
        "We took care of business," said XULA head coach Alan Green. "Overall it was a good performance from our team. I am looking forward to Rome and to see how we stack up on the national level."