NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Samir Chikhaoui has been named for the second consecutive year to the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District^® 2 NAIA at-large team.
     Chikhaoui, a senior men's tennis player from Lille, France, is XULA's seventh athlete, fourth male and first tennis player to be named Academic All-District twice. XULA has produced 24 Academic All-District selections, all but one on the first team, during the past 12 years.
     The Academic All-District award recognizes student-athletes for outstanding achievements in the classroom as well as in competition. Nominees must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale. They also must have completed at least one full calendar year at their current institution and reached sophomore athletic eligibility.
     District 2 consists of NAIA members in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.
     Chikhaoui won nearly 75 matches in three seasons at XULA and helped the Gold Rush reach the 2019 NAIA national final and the 2018 semifinals. This year the XULA men were 9-1 and ranked second in the final NAIA coaches poll.
     Chikhaoui is the only athlete from the NAIA's Gulf Coast Athletic Conference to make an at-large Academic All-District team this year. The only other Louisiana student-athlete on an at-large team is beach volleyball's Claire Coppola of LSU in NCAA Division I. The only other HBCU athlete to be honored is men's golfer Samuel Cudjoe of Saint Augustine's in NCAA Division II.
     First-team Academic All-District members advance to the Academic All-America^® ballot. The Academic All-America NAIA team will be announced June 16. Chikhaoui was first-team Academic All-America a year ago.