Nicholls State defeats XU teams in first duals of spring
January 30, 2010

Results:  Men    Women

     NEW ORLEANS — Hassan Abbas scored the only point for Xavier University of Louisiana's tennis teams Saturday as Nicholls State grabbed a pair of victories in XU's first dual matches of the spring semester.
     Nicholls, an NCAA Division I member, defeated NAIA-member Xavier 8-1 in the men's dual and 9-0 in the women's.
     Abbas, a junior in his first season at Xavier, picked up where he left off during the fall, when he went 5-0 in singles in three days at the HBCU National Championships. Abbas defeated Vlad Popa — who was 3-0 lifetime in singles against the Gold Rush — 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-5).
     But Abbas' victory was the lone XU highlight on a cloudy, cold and windy day — it was 42 degrees with a wind chill of 33 — at the University of New Orleans Tennis Center.
     Mario Myles (No. 3 singles) and Sean Richardson (No. 5 singles) won sets for the Gold Rush but lost their matches, as did freshman Carmen Nelson (No. 4 singles) in the women's dual.
     Florina Nosca defeated Anastesia Opata, Xavier's two-time first-team NAIA All-American, 6-0, 6-2 at No. 1 women's singles. It was the second straight year that Nosca beat Opata after Opata defeated Nosca in 2008.
     Nicholls State's men are 2-1, and the women are 1-0.
     The losses were just the fourth at home in four years for the Gold Nuggets and seventh at home in four years for the Gold Rush. Since the start of the 2006-07 season, XU's women are 20-4 at home, and the men are 18-7. Nicholls State's men and women each have two road victories against Xavier during that time.
     The Gold Nuggets will open their Gulf Coast Athletic Conference schedule at noon Sunday against Loyola at Tulane's Goldring Stadium. The Gold Rush will play again next weekend, as will the women, in GCAC matches at Mobile and Spring Hill.