Xavier's Langa, Hell tabbed as RRAC tennis players of the week

WACO, Texas – Mbali Langa of Xavier University (La.) was recognized as the RRAC Women's Tennis Player of the Week for April 8-14, and Xavier's Julius Hell was named the RRAC Men's Tennis Player of the Week for the same dates. This is the 11^th set of weekly winners for the 2024 RRAC tennis season.

Langa posted four victories last week for the Gold Nuggets, three of which were against nationally-ranked opponents. The senior from Johannesburg, South Africa, teamed up with McKenna Wheatley to defeat Westcliff University's (Calif.) No. 15 doubles team in 20 minutes. At No. 1 singles, Langa won against NAIA No. 5 Victoria Vieten of William Carey University (Miss.), 6-4, 6-3 and No. 20 Anna Masip of Westcliff, 7-5, 6-4. She is currently ranked 32^nd in the NAIA-ITA singles rankings and 14^th in doubles with Wheatley. Xavier won both team matches to improve to 18-7, and the Gold Nuggets are ranked fourth in the NAIA.

Hell was the only player on either team to win in both singles and doubles in the Gold Rush's clash with No. 10 WCU. The sophomore from Pforzheim, Germany, defeated 8^th-ranked Islam Orynbassar, 6-4, 7-5, in singles and posted a 6-1 victory in doubles with teammate VanDer Woody. Hell is ranked No. 32 in singles and No. 3 in doubles. Xavier is ranked 10^th in the NAIA with a 12-10 record on the season.

Additional RRAC tennis player of the week nominees: Johan Favelin (Our Lady of the Lake), Elizaveta Mikhailova (Louisiana Christian), Ana Ossio (Our Lady of the Lake), Andrew Otzenberger (A&M-Texarkana).

Previous 2024 RRAC tennis weekly selections: