Concordia (Calif.) doubles up to defeat Rush, Nuggets
April 4, 2012

Results:  Men    Women

     COSTA MESA, Calif. — For the third straight day at a Xavier University of Louisiana men's tennis dual match, higher rankings didn't guarantee success. But Wednesday the disappoinment belonged to the Gold Rush.
     Needing one victory from either of its NAIA-ranked doubles teams to clinch a dual against Concordia (Calif.), ninth-ranked Xavier lost both and dropped a 5-4 decision to the 10th-ranked Eagles.
     Concordia's eighth-ranked women defeated Xavier 9-0.
     The Gold Rush (12-5) were looking for a third victory in as many days against a higher ranked opponent. The XU men got singles victories from Zach Taylor, Steffen Giles-Osborn and Sean Richardson and led 4-3 after Viktor Svoboda and Corey Huggins defeated Rafael Coutinho and Ashkon Babaee 8-2 at No. 3 doubles.
     But the Eagles (7-9) tied the dual when Ryan McNamara and Patrick Szeremeta rallied for a 9-7 victory against 25th-ranked Richardson and Giles-Osborn at No. 2, then Bruno Santarelli and Gernot Hagemann upset third-ranked Loic Didavi and Taylor 8-5 to complete the comeback. Neither of Concordia's winning tandems was ranked, and the Santarelli-Hagemann triumph gave the Eagles their only lead of the day.
     On Tuesday Didavi and Taylor defeated second-rated Bryan Cox and Rodrigo Schaefer to cap a 6-3 victory against No. 8 Westmont. What's more, the XU men had won at least two doubles matches in their previous eight duals against ranked NAIA teams this season.
     "It was a crushing way to lose," XU coach Alan Green said. "Our guys fought hard, and we had a match point up 7-6 at No. 2 doubles. Hats off to Concordia. They played very well and showed how tough it is to win out here."
     Didavi and Amir Rahbar, both three-set singles winners Monday in a 5-4 victory at No. 7 Point Loma Nazarene, both lost in three sets this time. Bruno Santarelli defeated Didavi 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 in a matchup of top-15 players, and McNamara beat Rahbar 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-1 to give the XU sophomore his first defeat in six three-set matches this spring.
     "The sun will rise tomorrow," Green said, "and we will have to do the same."
     The Gold Nuggets (3-19) didn't win a set against Concordia's women and lost for the 10th time in 11 duals. Seven of the losses in that stretch are against ranked NAIA teams.
     Ninth-ranked Bettina Radke of Concordia (9-6) improved to 14-1 in singles this spring by defeating No. 35 Kourtney Howell 6-1, 6-1. Howell beat top-40 players the previous two days. Jordan Kimura, ranked 16th, clinched the dual with a 6-3, 6-1 decision against Amanda Materre.
     Xavier will conclude its spring-break trip by returning to Costa Mesa Tennis Center for 10 a.m. PDT Thursday duals against Vanguard's seventh-ranked men and 15th-ranked women.