Berry rallies past Gold Nuggets in NAIA second round
May 13, 2009

Results

     MOBILE, Ala. — Xavier University of Louisiana scored two points against ranked opponents, but Berry rallied for a 5-3 women's tennis victory Wednesday in the second round of the NAIA National Championship at Copeland-Cox Tennis Center.
     Third-seeded and third-ranked Berry (14-3) overcame a 3-2 deficit, reached the quarterfinals for the fifth consecutive season and denied 15th-ranked Xavier (19-7) its first quarterfinal berth.
     The Gold Nuggets' Anastesia Opata and Angelina Callis defeated Stephanie Herz and Marina Lebrao, No. 12 in the ITA/NAIA rankings, 8-3. Opata also beat Herz, rated fifth in singles, 4-3, retired.
     Berry clinched the dual when Lebrao defeated Callis 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. Had Callis won, Xavier was in position to win the dual because the Nuggets' Yuliem Dominguez led 7-5, 3-2 against Barbara Tomai at No. 3.
     "We just couldn't pull this one out," Xavier coach Alan Green said. "But this was by far the best match we've ever played in the second round."
     The loss was the fourth in as many attempts for Xavier in the second round. The Nuggets are 4-0 in first-round matches.
     Xavier scored its other point when Marian Lang defeated Laura Cunningham 6-4, 6-0 at No. 6 singles, giving the Nuggets their only lead of the dual at 3-2.
     Berry will play unseeded Lindsey Wilson, a 5-4 winner over sixth-seeded California Baptist, at 1 p.m. Thursday.