NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana tennis standout
Angela Charles-Alfred, no stranger to first-time experiences this season, got another Thursday when
she was named Greater New Orleans Female Amateur Athlete of the Year for 2019-20.
Charles-Alfred, a junior from Saint-Pierre, Martinique,
is the first XULA student-athlete to win an end-of-season award from
the Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, which is sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
It's the second Sugar Bowl annual award for XULA.
Alan Green was named
Outstanding College Coach, State of Louisiana, in 2016 after leading men's tennis to its
first NAIA national runner-up finish.
Charles-Alfred and her doubles partner,
Lailaa Bashir, won
XULA's first ITA Cup small-college national title in October. They finished the COVID-19-shortened
spring season as the No. 1 doubles team in the NAIA — the first end-of-season ITA top ranking
for XULA's women or men.
"I am really happy and proud to be a Xavierite winning this award," Charles-Alfred said.
"Nothing would be possible without my family, my teammates and coach Green. It has
been a tough year with this pandemic, but we did a good job with the team.
I am preparing already to be ready for the next year and do even better. I thank God for everything."
Charles-Alfred was 15-3 in singles matches and 25-2 in doubles this season
and was named ITA All-America for the third consecutive year. This is her second Sugar Bowl award of 2019-20;
she was chosen Greater New Orleans Amateur Athlete of the Month for October. The XULA women were 10-1
in dual matches and ranked third in the final NAIA coaches pill.
"Angela put together a great season despite it being cut short," Green said. "I challenged her to be more of
a leader and embrace being the one who the team could look up to this season. She accepted the
challenge and went even further by joining the XULA-ASA (Association of Student-Athletes).
I couldn't be more proud of the player and person Angela has become since coming to Xavier."
