Four Nuggets in ITA's NAIA individual rankings
April 3, 2008

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of New Orleans reached a slew of milestones Thursday when the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced its first NAIA women's individual rankings of the 2008 spring season.

Anastesia Opata is 23rd in singles, and Dominique Bell is 27th. The Gold Nuggets have two doubles teams ranked — Bell and Opata are 12th, and Yuliem Dominguez and Colleen McArthur are 22nd.

It's the first time in the past 11 seasons of ITA rankings — available statistics on the World Wide Web — that Xavier has two women's doubles teams ranked simultaneously. Bell and Opata's No. 12 ranking is the Nuggets' highest in doubles since May 4, 2005, when Charel Middleton and Michelle Lang were 12th.

It's the first time since March 16, 2004, that the Nuggets have two singles players ranked simultaneously.

Opata, a sophomore from Lawrenceville, Ga., is the second Nugget to make the top 25 in singles and the second Nugget to be ranked simultaneously in singles and doubles. Bell, a senior from Jackson, Miss., was the first with those achievements.

Bell is the first Nugget to be ranked in singles in four seasons and in doubles in two seasons.

Opata is 12-3 and Bell is 12-4 in singles this year, and they have teamed for a 13-4 doubles record. Dominguez and McArthur are 9-8 in doubles.

Dominguez is a junior from Destrehan, La., and McArthur, like Opata, is a sophomore from the Atlanta area. McArthur is from Marietta, Ga.

Xavier next women's and men's dual matches will start at 2 p.m. Sunday at Alcorn State. The Nuggets are 12-5 and ranked 14th in the NAIA. Xavier's men are 10-8 and ranked 24th.