NEW ORLEANS — Anastesia Opata of Xavier University of Louisiana is the
Newcomer of the Year on the All-Louisiana women’s tennis team announced
Tuesday.

Opata is a second-team selection. Her teammate, Dominique Bell, was a
repeat first-team selection.

Xavier’s Miroslav Vukicevic earned honorable mention on the All-Louisiana
men’s team.

Opata, a sophomore from Lawrenceville, Ga., and a transfer from Washington State,
was 16-4 in singles this season and teamed with Bell for a 20-5 doubles record.
Opata was a first-team NAIA All-American, the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference
Newcomer of the Year and No. 22 in the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association
NAIA singles rankings.

Bell, a senior from Jackson, Miss., was 16-4 in singles. She was a second-team
NAIA All-American, the GCAC Player of the Year and No. 30 in the final ITA
singles rankings.

Bell and Opata ranked 13th in doubles and led the Gold Nuggets to a 17-9 record,
their first victory in the NAIA Region XIII Tournament and a berth in the NAIA
National Championship, where Xavier reached the second round. The Nuggets were
No. 13 in the final NAIA coaches poll, their highest season-ending ranking.

Vukicevic, a senior from Sombor, Serbia-Montenegro, was ninth in the final
ITA men’s singles rankings. He was 12-8 in singles, 13-10 in doubles and was
first-team NAIA All-America on the coaches team and the ITA team. The Gold Rush,
like its female counterparts, earned its highest season-ending ranking in the
NAIA poll, 17th, and its first victory in the NAIA regionals. Xavier’s men
finished 15-9 and won its third consecutive GCAC Tournament.

A Louisiana Sports Writers Association panel selected the teams based on nominations
by the state’s tennis-playing four-year colleges and universities.

The original story was published here: http://www.xula.edu/athletics/news/2008/0617.html

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