Results
MOBILE, Ala. — Xavier University of Louisiana's
bid to earn a share of the Southern States Athletic Conference men's tennis regular-season
championship fell short Saturday when Middle Georgia defeated XULA 4-2.
XULA (5-8 overall, 3-2 SSAC)
trailed 3-0 and finally was eliminated when Naufal Kamaruzzaman — No. 33 in the
Intercollegiate Tennis Association's NAIA singles rankings but snuck into the Knights' match lineup
at No. 6 — rallied to defeat
Guillermo Coiras 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Middle Georgia won the regular-season championship,
with William Carey — a 4-3 winner Friday against XULA — in second place and XULA in third.
Four of the SSAC's men's teams are in the NAIA's top 12, including Middle Georgia at No. 7 and XULA at No. 11
Middle Georgia finished 5-0 in the SSAC (8-2 overall)
after defeating Blue Mountain 4-0 Saturday afternoon. It was the Knights' second straight SSAC title;
no conference matches were played in 2020 because of the COVID-19-shortened season. William Carey finished 4-1 in the league.
The SSAC Tournament also will be in Mobile,
with XULA facing city rival Loyola in the opening round April 15.
Although XULA did not win the doubles point,
Santiago Perez and
Shaikh Abdullah, ranked fourth among NAIA duos, defeated 21st-ranked
Nicolas Mougaillard and Franck Soulerot 6-3. Singles victories by
Juan Ramirez
and
Juan Varon cut the Knights' lead to 3-2; Ramirez defeated Angelo Tost 6-1, 6-4 and
Varon beat Nicolas Mougaillard 7-5, 7-5.
On the first singles court, fourth ranked
Yuri Syromolotov beat 10th-ranked
Santiago Perez 6-3, 6-3. Syromolotov and Jordi Bou
clinched the doubles point when they defeated Coiras and
Sebastian Perez in an 8-6 tiebreaker.
This is the only time in the last 20 seasons
that XULA's men lost consecutive regular-season conference matches. XULA was unbeaten
in Gulf Coast Athletic Conference matches in 2005 and from 2007-10 — no team in 2006 (Hurricane Katrina) —
and spent the previous 10 seasons without a league before both tennis teams joined the SSAC
in July with affiliate membership.
XULA's men and women will return home Saturday,
then travel Sunday to Thibodaux, La., to play NCAA Division I Nicholls State at 2 p.m.
