NEW ORLEANS — Six athletes from Xavier University of Louisiana women's tennis earned end-of-season honors from the Red River Athletic Conference for 2022-23.
        The Gold Nuggets' Mbali Langa was chosen Newcomer of the Year, and Alan Green was voted Coach of the Year. RRAC head coaches nominated and voted on the awards, and the RRAC announced them May 5.
        Joining Langa as first-team All-RRAC were teammates Tianna Dixon and Kareemah Muhammad. XULA's Valaine Clarke and McKenna Wheatley are on the second team.
        Named to the RRAC Champions of Character team for the second consecutive year was XULA senior Lindsey Dixon.
        Tianna Dixon and Muhammad are repeat first-team selections. Clarke made the second team for the second straight year. All three are sophomores.
        In the ITA NAIA national rankings of April 20, Muhammad was 11th and Langa was 17th in singles. In the South Region, Muhammad ranked 11th and Langa 15th.
        Green coached the Gold Nuggets to a 21-6 record, a No. 4 ranking in the final NAIA coaches poll and the RRAC Tournament championship. XULA defeated third-ranked and defending champion LSU-Alexandria 4-2 in the RRAC Tournament final. On April 1 Green earned is 300th career victory as coach of the Gold Nuggets.
        Langa is from Johannesburg, South Africa, a graduate of Marais Viljoen and a transfer from Hillsborough (Fla.) Community College. Muhammad is from Tustin, Calif., and graduated from Georgia Virtual School. Tianna Dixon is from Mobile, Ala., and graduated from UMS-Wright Preparatory School. Clarke is from Mount Vernon, N.Y., and graduated from Mount Vernon STEAM Academy. Wheatley is from Madison, Miss., and a graduate of St. Andrew's Episcopal School. Lindsey Dixon is from Savannah, Ga., and graduated from Savannah Christian Preparatory School.
        Next for XULA will be a round-of-16 match at 9 a.m. CDT Wednesday at NAIA nationals in Mobile, Ala. The Gold Nuggets have a first-round bye and will play Union (Ky.) or Westcliff.

2022-23 All-Red River Athletic Conference
First Team
Candela Bonivardi, LSU-Alexandria, senior, Cordoba, Argentina
Tianna Dixon, XULA, sophomore, Mobile, Ala.
Annemart Kleijn, LSU-Alexandria, junior, Meppel, Netherlands
Mbali Langa, XULA, junior, Johannesburg, South Africa
Kareemah Muhammad, XULA, sophomore, Tustin, Calif.
Olivia Scattini, LSU-Alexandria, junior, Concordia, Argentina

Second Team
Angela Basto, LSU-Shreveport, sophomore, Bogota, Colombia
Valaine Clarke, XULA, sophomore, Mount Vernon, N.Y.
Yelena Kim, Lewis-Clark State, freshman, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Lucia Popluharova, Our Lady of the Lake, junior, Bratislava, Slovakia
Alicia Romero, LSU-Alexandria, senior, Cordoba, Spain
McKenna Wheatley, XULA, freshman, Madison, Miss.

Player of the Year:  Annemart Kleijn, LSU-Alexandria
Newcomer of the Year:  Mbali Langa, XULA
Freshman of the Year:  Yelena Kim, Lewis-Clark State
Coach of the Year:  Alan Green, XULA

Champions of Character Team
Alexis Maison, Lewis-Clark State, senior, Yakima, Wash.
Patricia Martinez Molina, LSU-Alexandria, senior, Madrid, Spain
Carmen Perez, LSU-Shreveport, junior, Vigo, Spain
Ana Ossio, Our Lady of the Lake, senior, Santiago, Mexico
Kenzie Feist, Texas A&M-Texarkana, freshman, Arlington, Texas
Lindsey Dixon, XULA, senior, Savannah, Ga.