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SAN ANTONIO, Texas —
NAIA No. 3 Xavier University of Louisiana women's tennis defeated 13th-ranked LSU-Alexandria
4-0 Saturday to win the Red River Athletic Conference Tournament for the second consecutive year.
The victory gave the Gold Nuggets (21-5) an automatic
bid to NAIA nationals May 14-18 at Mobile, Ala. The NAIA will announce Tuesday
the 24 qualifiers, seedings and pairings for women's nationals.
Kyra Akinnibi, the tournament MVP, and
McKenna Wheatley won
in doubles and singles, and
Valentina Largacha clinched for XULA with her 6-1, 7-5
victory against Maria Alvarez on the sixth singles court.
"I was really worried about this match based on how we played yesterday."
21st-year XULA head coach
Alan Green said. "Somehow the wheels were falling off yesterday, and it's
tough to turn around in less than 24 hours and fix that. But I gave them some words of encouragement
last night, and they came out ready to play today. Don't let the final score fool you.
If Valentina doesn't clinch her match it could have been a different outcome. The other courts were tight.
I'm proud of how we competed and finished."
Akinnibi and
Valaine Clarke defeated Alvarez and Marie Peters 6-3
to clinch the doubles point, then Akinnibi made it 2-0 with her 6-1, 6-0 victory against Peters on the third singles court.
Wheatley beat Carla Serrano Gil 6-1, 6-1 on court five,
then Largacha won the final four games for the clinch.
Wheatley and
Kareemah Muhammad got XULA's other doubles victory, 6-0 against Lucie Ivanova and
Joline Roesch 6-0 on court three.
Largacha, Muhammad and Wheatley joined Akinnibi on the all-tournament team.
XULA will enter nationals with 10 consecutive victories — that's tied for the fourth longest
in the program's history. The 2018 Gold Nuggets set the record with 16 straight.
This is the second straight season and the third time in four seasons that the Gold Nuggets reached 20 victories.
Longest win streaks of XULA women's tennis
16 — Feb. 23-May 17, 2018 (streak ended May 18, 2018)
13 — Feb. 19-March 24, 2023 (streak ended March 25, 2023)
11 — March 26-May 16, 2013 (streak ended May 17, 2013)
10 — March 26-April 27, 2024 (active)
10 — Feb. 20-March 22, 2019 (streak ended March 23, 2019)
| XULA's women's tennis conference/unaffiliated group tournament championship match victories |
Date | Conference/Group | Location | Opponent | Score |
| April 27, 2024 (Sat.) | Red River | San Antonio, Texas | LSU-Alexandria | 4-0 |
| April 29, 2023 (Sat.) | Red River | New Orleans, La. (XULA Tennis Center) | LSU-Alexandria | 4-2 |
| April 18, 2021 (Sun.) | Southern States | Mobile, Ala. | William Carey | 4-0 |
| April 26, 2014 (Sat.) | NAIA unaffiliated group | New Orleans, La. (XULA Tennis Center) | Georgia Gwinnett | 5-3 |
| April 21, 2013 (Sun.) | NAIA unaffiliated group | Jonesboro, Ga. | SCAD Atlanta | 5-3 |
| April 28, 2012 (Sat.) | NAIA unaffiliated group | Norcross, Ga. | Tennessee Southern | 5-2 |
| April 30, 2010 (Fri.) | Gulf Coast | New Orleans, La. (University of New Orleans) | Spring Hill | 5-3 |
| April 24, 2009 (Fri.) | Gulf Coast | Mobile, Ala. | Mobile | 7-1 |
| April 13, 2007 (Fri.) | Gulf Coast | New Orleans, La. (City Park) | Mobile | 7-1 |
| April 16, 2005 (Sat.) | Gulf Coast | Mobile, Ala. | Mobile | 5-0 |
| April 17, 2004 (Sat.) | Gulf Coast | Ridgeland, Miss. | Mobile | 6-0 |
| April 26, 2003 (Sat.) | Gulf Coast | New Orleans, La. (City Park) | Spring Hill | 5-3 |
| April 27, 2002 (Sat.) | Gulf Coast | New Orleans, La. (Dillard Tennis Center) | Spring Hill | 5-4 |
