XU wins 10 of 11 in singles at HBCU Championships
September 22, 2011

     JONESBORO, Ga. — Xavier UniversIty of Louisiana's men's and women's tennis teams won 10 of 11 singles matches Thursday in the HBCU National Championships. Five players — Jordyn Goody, Kourtney Howell and Amanda Materre on the women's team and Loic Didavi and Viktor Svoboda on the men's — opened their XU careers with victories.
     Xavier, an NAIA member, won all eight of its matches against NCAA Division I.
     Howell defeated Alcorn State's Keti Mebuke 6-2, 0-6, 1-0 (10-3) to reach the A-flight quarterfinals. Materre beat Hampton's Tabita Daolo 7-5, 6-0 in the B-flight, Goody beat Savannah State's Ge'Anne Hilton 6-2, 6-0 in the C-flight.
     Didavi and Taylor, both second-team All-Americans this past season, both reached the men's A-flight semifinals. Didavi defeated Bluefield State's Piotr Kruk 6-1, 6-3 and Alcorn's Ernesto Santillian 6-1, 6-2. Taylor beat North Carolina Central's Jack Waissen 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 and Bluefield's Shikhar Kapur 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (12-10).
     In the men's B-flight, Amir Rahbar defeated Prairie View A&M's Trenton Johnson 6-2, 6-4, and Steffen Giles-Osborn lost 6-3, 6-7, 1-0 (10-6) to Bluefield's Conner Pickering. Svoboda won 6-0, 6-0 in the C-flight against Hampton's Isaiah Stewart, and Sean Richardson beat Prairie View's Jamaal James 6-2, 6-1.
     Svoboda, Richardson and Materre all were up one set in their second matches when rain halted play.
     The tournament, Xavier's first of two in the fall semester, will continue through Sunday.