Xavier defeats both ranked Belhaven teams on the road
March 8, 2012

Results:  Men    Women

     JACKSON, Miss. — Loic Didavi and Zach Taylor won in doubles and singles Thursday to lead NAIA No. 9 Xavier University of Louisiana to a 5-3 men's tennis victory against No. 25 Belhaven and the fifth consecutive Gold Rush triumph over a ranked opponent.
     The XU women got doubles and singles victories from Kourtney Howell, Amanda Materre and Amber Brown in a 5-2 decision against No. 21 Belhaven which snapped the Gold Nuggets' 19-dual losing streak on opponents' courts.
     Didavi and Taylor scored the first point of the men's dual with their 8-1 victory against Nicolas Osorio and David Mejia at No. 1 doubles. They also scored the final points — Didavi made it 4-3 with his 6-0, 6-0 victory against Osorio at No. 1 singles, then Taylor clinched with his 6-0, 6-3 victory against Max Eurisch at No. 2.
     The Gold Rush (7-1) have won seven straight duals for the first time since 2010. The XU men defeated No. 15 Bethany (Kan.), No. 13 William Carey, No. 10 Shorter and No. 21 Tennessee Wesleyan during the streak.
     "Our guys just hung tough and never got rattled through two rain delays," XU coach Alan Green said. "Belhaven has a good team and a good crowd to support them."
     The Gold Nuggets (2-9) won their second in a row and their first at an opponent's venue in two years. Howell, Materre and Brown scored at the top three singles flights, and Brown clinched the dual with her 6-2, 6-0 victory against Savannah Zachry at No. 3. Howell defeated Ana Paulette Arregyue 6-1, 6-2 at No. 1, and Materre earned her fourth straight singles victory by beating Indi Mire 6-1, 6-2.
     "I'm so happy for our ladies beating a ranked opponent," said Green, whose Nuggets have seven losses against NCAA Division I and two against ranked NAIA opponents. "The tough schedule is starting to pay off."
     Belhaven's men are 4-2, and the women are 3-3.
     Both XU teams will compete at 3:30 p.m. Friday in the AUM Invitational at Montgomery, Ala. The Rush will play Pikeville, and the Nuggets will play NAIA No. 18 Martin Methodist.