XU's Rahbar reaches B-flight singles championship match
September 24, 2010

     COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — Xavier University of Louisiana freshman Amir Rahbar won two more singles matches Friday to reach the men's B-flight final of the HBCU National Tennis Championships.
     Rahbar, from Houston and a graduate of Memorial High School, defeated North Carolina Central's Trey Chatman 6-4, 6-1 in the quarterfinals and Prairie View A&M's Ronald Chidzikwe 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 in the semifinals. Rahbar will play Florida A&M's Chidi Gabriel, a 6-3, 6-4 semifinal winner over Hampton's Jung-Ho Oh, for the championship at 8:30 a.m. EDT Saturday.
     Rahbar and another XU freshman, Jonathan Aubrey, reached the B-flight doubles semifinal with an 8-6 victory over Hampton's Oh and Edson Alves. Rahbar and Aubrey will play Florida A&M's Fabrice Myrtil and Marc Atkinson at 12:30 p.m., with the final to follow at 3:30.
     Xavier's B-flight women's doubles team of Carmen Nelson and Melissa DeLoach reached the semifinals. They defeated Alcorn State's Kalinina Sandoval and Tatiana Moreno 8-2 in the second round, then advanced by default through the quarterfinals when Hampton's Calisia Reed and Tabita Daolio failed to show for the match. Nelson and DeLoach will play Prairie View's Alejandra Barrera and Raven Lewis at 12:30 p.m. in the semifinals, with the final scheduled for 3:30.
     Also taking advantage of a no-show were Steffen Giles-Osborn and Sean Richardson, who defaulted their way into the A-doubles semifinals. They'll play N.C. Central's Chatman and Jack Waissen at 12:30 p.m., with the final to follow at 3:30.
     Aubrey defeated Hampton's Kenneth Greene 6-0, 6-1 in C-flight singles, then lost 6-1, 6-0 to FAMU's Temeura Asafu-adjaye in the semifinals.
     Nelson, a winner in the B-flight main draw Thursday, lost 6-4, 6-1 to Alcorn's Merilin Tipp in the quarterfinals. Richardson (men's B), Amber Brown (women's B) and DeLoach (women's B) were eliminated in the singles consolation draws.