Results
MOBILE, Ala. — Xavier University of Louisiana's
Amira Bergaoui defeated Katherine Frayre Busani 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 Tuesday to clinch a 4-1 victory against Ottawa (Ariz.) in the opening round of the UTR NAIA Women's Tennis National Championship.
The Gold Nuggets (13-10), ranked 12th in the final coaches poll and seeded 13th at the tournament, will play fifth-seeded/fourth-ranked Southeastern (Fla.) in the round of 16 at 9 a.m. CDT Wednesday at Copeland-Cox Mobile Tennis Center. Admission is free for all rounds.
Bergaoui and
Ana Vasilis beat Michelle Pugh and Jelizaveta Govrova 6-1 to clinch the doubles point.
Mbali Langa and
McKenna Wheatley earned XULA's other doubles victory, 6-2 against Busani and Martina Antich. In singles, Wheatley defeated Pugh 6-3, 6-2, and Vasilis — who trailed 4-0 and 5-1 in the first set — beat Antonia Kostoff 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.
XULA snapped the nine-match winning streak of OUAZ (10-6), which was seeded 20th and making its first appearance at nationals. The Gold Nuggets won for the 11th time in their last 15 matches.
XULA was one of three schools whose women and men won Tuesday. The others were Holy Cross (Ind.) and Northwestern Ohio. XULA's men defeated Ottawa (Kan.) 4-0.
