Auburn Montgomery eliminates Rush at NAIA tourney
May 13, 2009

Results

     MOBILE, Ala. — Auburn Montgomery's men's tennis team defeated Xavier University of Louisiana 5-0 Wednesday in the second round of the NAIA National Championship at Copeland-Cox Tennis Center.
     The Senators (19-2), the three-time defending champion and the tournament's top seed, won all three doubles matches and two singles matches, and for the second consecutive year they ended the season of the unseeded and 18th-ranked Gold Rush (17-7).
     Xavier, a come-from-behind 5-4 winner over Oklahoma Christian in Tuesday's opening round, could not produce similar magic against AUM. The closest doubles match was Mike Green and Terry Richardson's 8-5 loss to Michael Johnson and Monte Tucker at No. 1.
     AUM closed the dual when Johnson defeated Green 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 singles and Nikola Miskovic beat Cameron Knowles 6-1, 6-1 at No. 5.
     AUM defeated Xavier by the same team score in the semifinals of the 2008 NAIA Region XIII Tournament.
     The victory was the seventh in a row for the Senators, and it put them in the quarterfinals for the sixth consecutive year and the ninth time in 10 years. They'll play eighth-seeded Vanguard, a 5-3 winner over Graceland, at 9 a.m. Thursday.
     Four of the Gold Rush losses this season were to ranked NAIA opponents, two to AUM. The other three losses were against NCAA Division I teams. The 17 victories are a school record for Xavier's men.
     All eight second-round men's duals were delayed about three hours because of rain, and the start of the Xavier women's second-round match against Berry was pushed back approximately 2½ hours.