Results
NAIA preseason top 25
NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's
Tianna Dixon won in doubles and singles Friday, but the Gold Nuggets lost 6-1 to LSU-Alexandria in a matchup of NAIA top-10 women's tennis teams from the Red River Athletic Conference.
It was the first dual match of the spring semester for both teams. XULA was third and LSUA seventh when the NAIA announced Thursday its preseason top 25 coaches poll.
LSUA won the doubles point, but Dixon and
Valaine Clarke, both freshmen, defeated Olivia Scattinni and Alicia Romero Gomez 6-3 on the No. 1 court. Dixon defeated Maria Alvarez 6-3, 1-6, 1-0 (10-6) at No. 3 singles.
"
Tianna Dixon played rock solid in picking up a win, and Valaine had a match point in her (singles) match," 19th-year XULA head coach
Alan Green said. "Our team fought hard, but it's tough playing a top-10 team in the first match. But I was proud of the effort we played with. Our freshmen really played solid in their first-ever team match. It's going to be fun watching this team grow together. We will be just fine."
Five of XULA's six doubles players and four of its singles players were freshmen. There are no seniors on the team this semester.
Clarke lost 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 1-0 (11-9) to Romero Gomez at No. 2 singles. Clarke led 9-8 in the super-tiebreaker.
Patricia Martinez Molina clinched for LSUA with her 6-1, 6-4 victory against freshman
Bailey Whitley at No. 6.
LSUA snapped the Gold Nuggets' 13-dual win streak at XULA Tennis Center. Three of the victories in that streak were against LSUA. XULA had won its last 14 home duals against ranked NAIA opponents.
Next for the Gold Nuggets will be a 3 p.m. home matchup next Friday against city rival Dillard, which is playing tennis for the first time in 17 seasons. XULA's 10th-ranked men also will compete that day, but the Gold Rush will open Saturday with a pair of dual matches at Lafayette, La.: 10 a.m. against Tyler Junior College and 3 p.m. against NCAA Division I Louisiana-Lafayette.
