Xavier women win at NAIA No. 13 Shorter
March 18, 2008

Results: Men    Women

ROME, Ga. — Dominique Bell and Anastesia Opata rallied to win their doubles match, then both won in singles Tuesday to lead NAIA No. 23 Xavier University of Louisiana to a 5-2 women's tennis victory at No. 13 Shorter.

In the men's match, No. 19 Shorter defeated No. 24 Xavier 5-2.

The Gold Nuggets (9-5) fell behind 2-0 in doubles, and Bell and Opata trailed 4-1 in their No. 1 match against Lydie Ratsaraefadahy and Angelika Bondarenko before rallying for a 9-7 victory. Then Xavier won the top four singles flights, including Opata's 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 decision at No. 1 over Ratsaraefadahy and Bell's 6-3, 6-2 victory over Bondarenko at No. 2.

Ratsaraefadahy was 37th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's NAIA fall singles rankings.

Colleen McArthur beat Giuliana Luconi 6-2, 6-0 to clinch the Nuggets' seventh victory in eight duals, their second of the season against a ranked opponent and their first in four tries against Shorter. Xavier failed to win a match in the three previous meetings.

Xavier's men (7-8) scored their points when Vusumzi Kempele and Terry Richardson defeated Josh Lewis and Francisco Franco at No. 2 doubles and Richardson beat Quentin Grieu 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 at No. 3 singles.

"Bell and Opata's comeback in doubles sparked our women," Xavier coach Alan Green said. "On the men's side the intensity wasn't there from the beginning. It picked up, but we gave (Shorter) a lead we couldn't overcome."

Shorter's men are 6-2, and the women are 6-5. The Lady Hawks are 0-3 at home, all against ranked opponents.

Xavier's men and women will play ranked teams on Wednesday for the third consecutive day, this time against Lee (Tenn.) at Mount Berry, Ga. Lee's men are No. 7 in the NAIA, and the women are 18th. The matches are scheduled for 2 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. New Orleans time), but there's an 80-percent chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon.