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NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana honored five soon-to-depart players Thursday, then rolled to a 5-2 Red River Athletic Conference victory against LSU-Alexandria in another matchup of top-25 NAIA women's tennis teams.
The Gold Nuggets, 19-5 and ranked fourth
in the coaches poll , won the doubles point and clinched the dual when
Valentina Largacha defeated Maria Alvarez 6-2, 6-3 at No. 6 singles.
Largacha,
Kyra Akinnibi,
Valaine Clarke,
Kareemah Muhammad and
Ariana Stephens were honored in a prematch senior ceremony.
It was more of the same for XULA in its regular-season finale:
• Akinnibi defeated Marie Paters 6-1, 6-2 on court three for her 11th consecutive singles victory. Akinnibi is 15-1 in singles this semester.
• Freshman
Amira Bergaoui won her ninth straight in singles with a 6-2, 6-0 victory against Annemart Kleijn on court two. Bergaoui, who enrolled at XULA in January, is 17-1 in singles, 17-0 against NAIA opponents.
• The Gold Nuggets finished their home schedule 9-0 — the final eight victories were against ranked opponents. XULA's home win streak, dating to 2023, is 11 matches.
• The Gold Nuggets extended their overall win streak to a season-best eight matches.
Mbali Langa and
McKenna Wheatley defeated Olivia Scattini and Kleijn 6-2 on court one, and Muhammad and Clarke clinched the doubles point about 15 seconds later with their 6-2 victory against Peters and Alvarez. Wheatley was the only Gold Nugget to win in doubles and singles; the sophomore beat Carla Serrano Gil 6-2, 6-1 on court five.
XULA ended the four-match win streak of the Generals (11-4), who will close their regular season Saturday at LSU-Shreveport.
The Gold Nuggets will travel to San Antonio, Texas, for the RRAC Tournament April 25-27. XULA will be the No. 1 seed, earn a first-round bye and play in the semifinals April 26. Five of the six tournament teams in the top 50 of the April 11 ITA NAIA computer rankings.
