Xavier University of Louisiana women’s tennis team suffered its first home loss of the season to St. Thomas, 4-3, on Wednesday. The Gold Nuggets regular season finale will kick off at 1pm. CDT April 16 at home against NAIA no.
3 LSU-Alexandria. XULA will host the Red River Athletic Conference Women’s Tournament April 27-29 and attempt to automatically qualify for the NAIA Nationals. The Gold Nuggets are 6-1 at home and 19-5 overall. The Bobcats, ranked 11th in the NAIA, are 16-3 and have won for the 13th time in 14 road games.
St. Thomas won over the first four singles courts after losing the doubles point. Isabella Ciancaglini-Ribera took center stage when she defeated #4 McKenna Wheatley 5-7, 6-1, 6-1. This gave the Bobcats a 4-1 lead. Wheatley and Tianna Dixon grabbed the doubles point with their 6-2 victory against Jenesie Burgos and Jamison Geoffreys on court three.
Yi Chen Pao and Valaine Clarke produced XULA’s other doubles win, 6-3 on second course against Lia Pena and Annie Carrera. Pao was the only XULA player to win in doubles and singles. She won 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 against Burgos on court six.
Valentina Largacha won 7-6 (7-0), 4-1 on court five as Geoffreys withdrew with injury.
About the XULA
Xavier University of Louisiana is a private, historically black, Catholic university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only Catholic HBCU and, following the canonization of Katharine Drexel in 2000, became the first Catholic university founded by a saint.
Senator Barack Obama gave the keynote address in August 2006. The Archbishop of New Orleans, Alfred C. Hughes, declined to attend, arguing that Obama was not against abortion and that he had not been consulted before the ‘event.
Obama returned after becoming president, visiting New Orleans in August 2010 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. He gave Xavier a speech complimenting the community leaders’ work and affirming their commitment to continue to help rebuild the area.
Xavier’s athletic teams are called the Gold Rush and the Gold Nuggets. The university is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, primarily participating in the Red River Athletic Conference as of the 2021-22 academic year XULA competes in 12 intercollegiate varsity sports: men’s sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, tennis, and track and field; women’s sports include basketball, cross country, softball, tennis, track and field, and volleyball; and coed sports include competitive cheering. Previous sports included football.
