Box Score
NAIA Championship Semifinals
Score: No. 2 Keiser 4, No. 3 Xavier 3
Records: No. 2 Keiser (15-1), No. 3 Xavier (21-6)
Location: Mobile, Ala.
Venue: Mobile Tennis Center


The second-ranked Seahawks collected their fifteenth win of the season this afternoon in a four and a half marathon by defeating No. 3 Xavier, 4-3.
 
With the victory, the Seahawks return to the NAIA National Championship for a third straight year and fourth time in program history. Keiser will be seeking their first title under head coach Daniel Finn and second in program history.
 
Today's win moves Keiser to 10-0 against NAIA Top 25 squads.

• No. 8 Camilla Abbate and Dugleisy Linarez shifted the doubles point in favor of Keiser with a 6-2 win in the second doubles slot, besting Agelica De Vincenzis and Valentina Lagarcha.
• Xavier evened the contest out of the top slot as No. 4 Alisha Hussain and Maissane Aik was bested by No. 3 Angela Charles-Alfred and Lailaa Bashir, 6-3.
• The Seahawks exited the doubles portion of the match with a 1-0 advantage after No. 17 Hannah Lairmore and Sarah Schaerer rallied back from 2-5 down, winning 7-6 (3) over No. 13 Kyra Akinnibi and Farah Baklouti.

• No. 35 Isabella Perez Flores extended the lead to 2-0, soaring past De Vincenzis by the final score of 6-1, 6-3, in the fifth spot.
• Xavier got on the board out of the fourth slot as No. 19 Aik fell to No. 29 Farah Baklouti, 3-6, 6-2, 3-6.
• The match was leveled at two, as No. 39 Schaerer fell to Lagarcha, 6-0, 4-6, 3-6, in the sixth position.
• The Golden Nuggets jumped in front out of the top spot as No. 4 Abbate lost to No. 23 Kyra Akinnibi, 3-6, 7-5, 3-6.
• No. 24 Lairmore evened the match at three-apiece while putting the Seahawks one point away from clinching a spot in the national championship, defeating No. 13 Angela Charles-Alfred, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.
• No. 8 Hussain clinched the match for Keiser, upending No. 9 Bashir, 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-3, sending KU back into the title match for a third straight year.

Head Coach Daniel Finn said, "What a match this was today. First off, I have to give credit to Xavier as they came to fight the entire match. We knew this match would be a battle and our girls did a good job of never giving up despite going down in singles. To have five singles match go three sets tells you this match could have gone either way. The biggest difference was our grittiness in the moment and my coaching staff. My assistants helped win this match with the mid-match adjustments by Assistant Coach, Brian Slack and on-court adjustments by Graduate Assistant, Megane Bianco. Now, we have to try and get some rest and prepare to give everything we have in the championship match."


 For a third straight year, No. 2 Keiser face No. 1 Georgia Gwinnett for the 2021 NAIA National Championship at 10:00 a.m. GGC has won the last two title matches by a final score of 5-2.