Yi Chen Pao of XULA is the RRAC women’s player of the week!

Yi Chen Pao, for the Xavier University of Louisiana, is the Red River Athletic Conference Player of the Week in women’s tennis for March 20-26. The RRAC announced the award on Tuesday.

It is the seventh time in eight weeks that the Gold Nuggets have won the RRAC award. Tianna Dixon, Mbali Langa, Valentina Largacha and McKenna Wheatley have also won this season.

This is Pao’s third weekly career award and her first in the RRAC. She won twice when XULA was a member of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference. This is XULA’s second season in the RRAC.

Pao, a fifth-year player and high school student from Taichung City, Taiwan, was 3-0 in doubles and 2-1 in singles. She won in doubles and singles to help the Gold Nuggets defeat NCAA Division III Millsaps 7-0 and Division II Southern Arkansas 4-3. Pao won off Valaine Clarke in doubles in a 6-1 loss to West Florida, ranked 35th in D2.

The Gold Nuggets, ranked fifth in the NAIA, will host No. 14 William Carey on Saturday at noon CDT at XULA Tennis Center.oon CDT Saturday at XULA Tennis Center.

About the XULA

Xavier University of Louisiana is a private, historically black, Catholic university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only Catholic HBCU and, following the canonization of Katharine Drexel in 2000, became the first Catholic university founded by a saint.

Senator Barack Obama gave the keynote address in August 2006. The Archbishop of New Orleans, Alfred C. Hughes, declined to attend, arguing that Obama was not against abortion and that he had not been consulted before the ‘event. Obama returned after becoming president, visiting New Orleans in August 2010 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. He gave Xavier a speech complimenting the community leaders’ work and affirming their commitment to continue to help rebuild the area.

Xavier’s athletic teams are called the Gold Rush and the Gold Nuggets. The university is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, primarily participating in the Red River Athletic Conference as of the 2021-22 academic year

XULA competes in 12 intercollegiate varsity sports: men’s sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, tennis, and track and field; women’s sports include basketball, cross country, softball, tennis, track and field, and volleyball; and coed sports include competitive cheering. Previous sports included football.

Photo credit: pic by XULA webiste