Women's Tennis Heads to North Carolina to Face Davidson, Gardner-Webb

Friday, April 2

Davidson, NC

3 PM

Xavier University

Davidson

Women's Tennis Heads to North Carolina to Face Davidson, Gardner-Webb

04.01.21 | Women's Tennis

Xavier plays Davidson on Friday, Gardner-Webb on Saturday

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier women's tennis (9-3) will travel to North Carolina for a pair of matches this weekend, facing Davidson on Friday, April 2 at 2:00 p.m., then traveling to Gardner-Webb for a noon match on Saturday, April 3.

DAVIDSON

Davidson is 5-9 overall on the season and 1-1 in A10 play.
The Wildcats were 6-5 when the season was called off in 2020, including a 2-1 mark in A-10 play. They closed out the season with back-to-back shutout wins, over Duquesne and Saint Joseph's.
Xavier is 1-0 against the Wildcats, with the lone match coming in the 2013-14 season, a 6-1 win for the Musketeers in Boca Raton, Fla.

GARDNER-WEBB

Gardner-Webb is 4-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play for 2021.
The Runnin' Bulldogs were 5-4 overall and 2-1 in Big South play when the 2020 season was called off.
This is the first match between the two programs.

LAST WEEKEND

Xavier women's tennis moved to 9-3 on the season after falling to No. 45 Louisville and Memphis.
Against Louisville, the Musketeers claimed the doubles point, with Ahmeir Kyle and Emily Thomas combining for a 6-3 win in the No. 1 spot and Anna Roggenburk and Imani Graham battling to a 7-6 (7-2) win in the No. 3 spot. Kat Lyman and Kaitlin Ruether challenged the No. 24 ranked duo of Raven Neely and Tatiana Simova, but fell 7-5.
The Cards pulled even at 1-1 with a point in the No. 6 spot, 6-1, 6-1, over Kaitlin Ruether, then moved ahead with a 6-3, 6-0 win in the No. 4 spot against Imani Graham.
Louisville took a 3-1 lead with a win in the No. 3 spot over Anna Roggenburk, 6-4, 6-2, then sealed the win, 4-1, in the No. 4 spot, 6-3, 6-3, against Emily Thomas.
After the match was decided, with one set apiece, Ahmeir Kyle topped No. 83 Andrea Di Palma 1-0 (10-5) in a third set in the No. 1 spot, finishing with the 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5) win to make it 4-2. It was the first of two top-100 wins for the weekend.
Kat Lyman, ranked No. 123, battled to a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2) win in the No. 2 spot to remain undefeated in singles action on the season at 11-0, and set the final score at 4-3.
Against Memphis, Xavier opened up with wins in the No. 1 doubles spots, 6-1, for Ahmeir Kyle and Emily Thomas, and in the No. 3 spot, Anna Roggenburk and Imani Graham, 6-2, to take the doubles point. Kaitlin Ruether and Kat Lyman fell, 6-2, in the No. 2 spot.
Memphis tied it, 1-1 with a 6-1, 6-4 win in the No. 6 spot against Blessing Nwaozuzu.
Xavier regained the lead after Ahmeir Kyle picked up a win over No. 72 Sophie Abrams, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8), in the No. 1 spot, her second top-100 win of the weekend.
Memphis would take the final four singles decisions, taking the No. 2 spot, 6-1, 7-5, over Kat Lyman and the No. 5 spot, 6-3, 6-4, over Kaitlin Ruether.
The Tigers secured the win with a 7-6, 6-3 (7) win in the No. 3 spot over Anna Roggenburk to make it 4-2.
Memphis made the final score 5-2 with a 6-3, 0-6, 7-5 over Imani Graham in the No. 4 spot.

WEEKLY AWARDS

Xavier women's tennis senior Ahmeir Kyle was named the BIG EAST Tennis Athlete of the Week on the women's side, the conference office announced on Thursday.
Kyle went 4-0 overall over the weekend playing in the No. 1 spot for singles and doubles, picking up two singles wins over top-100 opponents along the way. The wins mark the first time a Musketeer has beaten ranked opponents in back-to-back matches, and helped earn Kyle a spot in the most recent ITA National Rankings for Individuals, coming in at No. 107.
Against No. 45 Louisville, Kyle faced off against No. 82 Andrea Di Palma in the No. 1 spot, 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5). Kyle also partnered with Emily Thomas to take the 6-3 win in the No. 1 doubles spot, helping Xavier take the doubles point in a match the Musketeers fell in narrowly, 4-3.
Against Memphis, Kyle took a two-set win in the No. 1 singles spot, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8), over No. 72 Sophie Abrams for her second top-100 win of the weekend. Kyle again partnered with Emily Thomas in doubles, taking a 6-1 win in the No. 1 spot to help Xavier take the doubles points. Kyle played a role in both of the points that Xavier picked up in the 5-2 loss.
This is Kyle's first weekly honor of the season and the fourth of her career, and the second for the Musketeers this season.

THE TEAM: RETURNERS

Xavier returns five from the 2020 season, with all getting routine action in dual play.
Ahmeir Kyle played primarily in the No. 1 singles spot, finishing the shortened dual season with a 7-5 record. Kyle also had an 8-5 record in No. 1 doubles, partnered with both Emily Thomas and Kaitlin Ruether.
Anna Roggenburk was Xavier's No. 2 singles player for most of the season, finishing with four wins. She also collected another win playing in the No. 1 singles spot. She ended the season with a 9-5 record in doubles, going 8-5 in the No. 2 spot with 2020 graduate Rachael Reichenbach. She also went 1-0 in No. 3 doubles with Lauren Fitz-Randolph, also a 2020 grad.
Emily Thomas had a 3-4 record in singles play during dual action, going 2-0 in the No. 2 spot and 1-4 in the No. 3 spot. She also posted a 4-3 record in doubles plays during duals, playing with Ahmeir Kyle in the No. 1 spot.
Kaitlin Ruether was Xavier's primary No. 4 singles player in 2019, posting a 7-1 record in the spot, and a 9-5 record overall in dual singles. Ruether posted a 6-6 record in dual doubles, including a 4-2 record in No. 1 doubles with Ahmeir Kyle.
Natalie Moyer posted a 6-4 record in singles during dual play, going 4-4 in the No. 5 spot, but also posting 1-0 records in the No. 4 and No. 6 spots. Moyer collected three doubles wins during dual play, including a 1-0 record in the No. 2 spot with Kaitlin Ruether and wins with 2020 graduates Rachael Reichenbach and Lauren Fitz-Randolph in the No. 3 spot.

THE TEAM: NEWCOMERS

Xavier added a pair of freshmen to the roster, Imani Graham and Blessing Nwaozuzu.
Graham is from St. Johns, Florida (Creekside High School) and is currently ranked No. 53 in the country. The 5-star recruit had been ranked as high as No. 7 nationally according to tennisrecruiting.net. She was the 2019 FHSAA Individual State Champion and was named a member of the All-County Girls Tennis Team in 2019.
Nwaozuzu is 4-star recruit from Orange, Ohio (Orange High School). Coming out high school, she had a high ranking of No. 61 nationally according to tennisrecruiting.net. Nwaozuzu was a 2019 Midwest L2 Open Champion and was CVC Conference Player of the Year in 2018 and 2019.
Xavier also added a pair of transfers in Kat Lyman and Lucy Octave.
Lyman, a transfer from West Virginia, was a four-star recruit with a national ranking as high as No. 26 (TennisRecruiting.net) during her prep career. As a freshman at WVU in 2020, Lyman collected 11 total wins in a shortened dual season. She has four years of eligibility remaining.
Octave joins Xavier as a graduate transfer from Utah State. In her four seasons as an Aggie, Octave recorded 91 wins in singles and doubles, the 10^th most in program history. Her 51 total singles win and 40 doubles wins both rank in the top 12 in Utah State's career records as well.