Wednesday, 05/25/2011

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Hassan Abbas and Zach Taylor were second-team selections on the 2011 NAIA Men's Tennis All-America Teams announced Tuesday.
    
Earning honorable mention was XU's Steffen Giles-Osborn.
    
Abbas and Taylor are Xavier's fourth and fifth men's tennis All-Americans of the modern era. Mike Green (2009), Terry Richardson (2009) and Miroslav Vukicevic (2008) also were second-team selections.
    
Abbas, a senior from Saltaire, England, and a graduate of Bingley Grammar School and Ventura (Calif.) College, was 15-6 in singles and 15-8 doubles this season and was 31st in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association/NAIA singles rankings.
    
Taylor, a junior from Monroe, La., and a graduate of St. Frederick High School and Ventura College, was 11-10 in singles and 15-8 in doubles. He was 24th in ITA/NAIA singles rankings. Taylor and Abbas are 15th nationally in doubles.
    
Giles-Osborn, a junior from Atlanta, Ga., and a graduate of Westlake High School, was 12-14 in singles and 13-14 in doubles. He was 17th in the South in the ITA/NAIA singles rankings and 15th in the South in doubles with Sean Richardson.
    
Xavier was 13-9 this season, winning the NAIA Unaffiliated Group 2 Tournament and qualifying for the NAIA National Championship for the third consecutive year. The XU men's No. 8 final ranking was their highest ever.