SAVANNAH, Ga. - The No. 8 Xavier women's tennis team rode a sweep of singles matches to an impressive, 6-1 win over No. 7 SCAD Savannah here Thursday in the first leg of the 2026 Coastal Invitational. 

In what was its best and most resilient outing of the year thus far, XULA (3-3) fell behind 1-0 when SCAD Savannah took the doubles point, but all six singles players for the Gold Nuggets won to set up the comfortable victory. 

Not that Xavier had an easy road. The Gold Nuggets faced tough competition and several third sets throughout the day. 

Maja Brnic bested Cherry Xian 7-6(3), 6-3 in the No. 1 singles, McKenna Wheatley topped Alessia Piccoliori 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 in the No. 2 slot, and Ana Sabikova downed Nora Louko 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 at No. 3. 

In the lower half of the singles matches, Anais Yakan defeated Asia Liverani 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 4, Asadah Ma'at defeated Jess Johnson 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 in the No. 5 match, and Makai Sales bested Erin Passmore 6-2, 6-0 at No. 6. 

Xavier plays match 2-of-3 in the Coastal Invitational on Friday in the form of a visit to the College of Coastal Georgia.