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PDF Bracket
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XULA Tournament History
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Visitors Guide
NEW ORLEANS — For the 11th time in 12 seasons and the eighth time in
a row, Xavier University of Louisiana
men's tennis has earned a first-round bye in the NAIA National Championship tournament at Mobile, Ala.
The NAIA announced Tuesday that XULA (17-6)
is seeded seventh and will play 10th-seeded Middle Georgia or 23rd-seeded Midland
in the round of 16 at 1 p.m. May 17 at Copeland-Cox Mobile Tennis Center (851 Gaillard Drive, zip code 36608,
phone 251-208-5181). Admission is free for every round.
Middle Georgia (13-6) and Midland (17-7)
will meet in the first round at 1 p.m. May 16. Twenty-four teams qualified.
XULA earned an automatic bid to nationals
by winning 4-3 April 22 at home against Our Lady of the Lake in the
final round of an unaffiliated group tournament.
This is XULA's 14th consecutive appearance at nationals
and 14th overall. Streaks do not include 2020, when the tournament was canceled
because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Gold Rush are a three-time NAIA national runner-up, finishing
second to Georgia Gwinnett in 2016, 2017 and 2019. Men's tennis is the only XULA program
to reach the championship round of a bracketed NAIA national tournament.
In order from the top, XULA's singles lineup will be
Jacobi Bain,
Julius Hell,
Nereo Suarez,
Mathieu Strauss,
Jered Wilson and
Dedric Ray.
The doubles teams will be Bain and Suarez at No. 1, Strauss and Wilson at No. 2 and
Hell and Ray at No. 3.
Bain and Suarez are second in the Intercollegiate
Tennis Association NAIA doubles rankings.