NAIA Tournament Quarterfinal
Score: No. 2 Keiser 4, No. 11 Xavier 1
Records: Keiser (17-4), Xavier (14-13)
Location: Mobile, Ala.
Venue: Mobile Tennis Courts



The No. 2 Keiser women's tennis celebrated a win and a birthday on Thursday as the Seahawks defeated No. 11 Xavier, 4-1 on Kanon Sorakubo's birthday. For the third straight year, the Seahawks defeated Xavier in the NAIA Tournament.

• No. 14 Joyce Nouws and Kahea Companion were done first in doubles as the pair bested Tianna Dixon and Valentina Largacha, 6-4.
• Keiser took the doubles point on court one with No. 7 Isabella Perez Flores and Florencia Araya topping Kareemah Muhammad and Valaine Clark, 7-6(2).
• Vanja Vidanovic and Kanon Sorakubo were up 6-5 on court two when the point was clinched.

• No. 24 Perez Flores upped the Keiser lead to 2-0 on court four, winning, 6-2, 7-5.
• No. 20 Muhammad bested No. 19 Sorakubo on court one, 6-2, 6-4 to make it 2-1 still in favor of KU.
•  After dropping the first set, Araya won 12 games straight on court six to put Keiser ahead 3-1.
• No. 9 Companion battled from behind to clinch the match for the Seahawks on court two with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win.

"All fight today," said Head Coach, Daniel Finn, "I knew as soon as we found out that we were playing Xavier, it would be as intense a battle as it could be. Coach Green always has his team peaking at this time of the year and this year wasn't any different. Every time we play Xavier it's always a fight till the end. I won't sit here and tell you we played our best today because we certainly didn't. However, the main difference today was how the girls played the big points and found ways to win in these conditions. Now again we have to get what rest we can and try to prep for another one tomorrow."


The Seahawks will have less than 24 hours to rest and prepare for their semifinal match with No. 4 LSU-Alexandria.