Xavier’s Goreau beats 2 Division I foes to reach HBCU final

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — Xavier University of Louisiana’s Charlene Goreau defeated two NCAA Division I opponents Friday to reach the championship round of the women’s singles A-bracket of the HBCU National Tennis Championships.

Goreau, a two-time NAIA All-American and the No. 2 seed at this event, defeated Florida A&M’s 10th-seeded Haleigh Porter 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals and Jackson State’s 11th-seeded Nina Zhang 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in the semifinals.

“Charlene was mentally tough,” 15th-year XULA coach Alan Green said. “Both of her opponents never quit on the matches, but Charlene kept her head and pushed through.”

Joining Goreau in Saturday’s finals will be XULA’s Catalin Fifea, who won a pair of matches in men’s A consolation singles. Fifea defeated Howard’s Karim Shokeir 8-2 in the quarterfinals.

In the men’s B singles main draw, Gabriel Niculescu defeated Jackson State’s Vishu Prasad in the quarterfinals, then lost 6-4, 6-3 to Bluefield State’s Giorgi Datashvili in the semifinals. In men’s C singles quarterfinals, Pierre Andrieu lost 6-3, 6-1 to Bluefield State’s top-seeded Lorenzo Panariti.

In women’s singles, Manon Bonada lost 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-5) to Howard’s Yassmine Khiri in the B quarterfinals, and Yi Chen Pao lost 6-0, 6-0 to Tennessee State’s Aarushi Kakkar in the C quarterfinals.