Xavier men win GCAC tennis championship again
April 11, 2008

Men's results vs. Belhaven and Mobile
Women's results vs. Tougaloo and Mobile

RIDGELAND, Miss. — Xavier University of Louisiana's men's tennis team, ranked 24th in the NAIA, defeated Mobile 5-1 Friday to win the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament for the third consecutive time.

In the women's final, Mobile upset 14th-ranked Xavier 5-4 to end the Gold Nuggets' streak of five consecutive GCAC championships.

Terry Richardson, Cameron Knowles, Mikhail Vaval-Desse, Mario Myles and Vusumzi Kempele scored straight-set singles victories for the Gold Rush (13-8), which has a six-match winning streak and won 12 of its past 15 matches. The lone Xavier loss came at No. 1 singles, when Alejandro Vial defeated Miroslav Vukicevic 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in a match that determined the GCAC men's Player of ther Year award.

The victory clinched for the Gold Rush a berth in the NAIA Region XIII Tournament at Mount Berry, Ga., on April 25-26.

Xavier had a first-round bye, then lost two games in five completed matches during a 5-0 semifinal victory over Belhaven.

The Gold Rush also won the GCAC tourney in 2007 and 2005. Xavier did not field a team in 2006 due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

Xavier's women had never lost a GCAC regular-season match — 45 in a row — or a GCAC Tournament match since Alan Green became the coach in the 2002-03 academic year. But the Lady Rams, who lost 5-3 and 5-4 to the Gold Nuggets during the regular season, won four of the final five matches to win the tournament for the second time in three years and avenge a 7-1 loss to Xavier in the 2007 final. Mobile won the tournament in 2006 during Xavier's hiatus.

Mobile's Michelle Machen and Camilla Hovden clinched the championship with an 8-6 victory over Alexandra Broussard and Melissa DeLoach at No. 3 singles. Machen and Hovden are 3-0 this season against Broussard and DeLoach, winning each time by two games.

The loss snapped the Nuggets' six-match win streak and was their second in 14 matches. Xavier (14-6) had a first-round bye and defeated Tougaloo 5-0 in the semifinals. The Nuggets lost two games in their five completed matches against Tougaloo. Colleen McArthur defeated Jasmine Woods 6-0, 6-0 at No. 4 singles and teamed with Yuliem Dominguez for an 8-0 victory over Woods and Charity Foster at No. 2 doubles.

Rain pushed back the tournament's start from 9 a.m. to noon. There was a second rain delay during the afternoon, which resulted in the two championship matches starting at approximately 8 p.m. The Xavier-Mobile women's match ended after 1 a.m.

Xavier will stay on the road and play its final regular-season matches at 10 a.m. Saturday against Jackson State at Tennis Center South in Jackson, Miss.