Results
Facebook video of No. 1 doubles match
NEW ORLEANS —
Xavier University of Louisiana's men produced comeback victories on all three doubles courts
and won 2-of-3 three-set singles matches Sunday to earn a 5-2 victory against
city rival Dillard.
It was the first dual match
of the spring semester for both teams, and it was the 33rd consecutive Gold Rush
victory at XULA Tennis Center. That streak started in April 2018.
Dillard cut XULA's 3-0 lead to 3-2
before
Nereo Suarez clinched with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
victory against Nour Salah Ibrahim on the fourth singles court.
Suarez,
Jacobi Bain and
VanDer Woody
won in doubles and singles. Suarez and Bain won 6-4 against
Jesus Rodriguez and Yassine Ben Jemaa at No. 2 doubles, and Woody and
Julius Hell
clinched the doubles point by beating Vinh Nguyen and Pablo Martin 6-4 on court one.
Jered Wilson and
Artur Yakubov — the latter in his XULA debut — won
the final six games on court three in a 6-3 decision against Ibrahim and Matthias Bigot.
Ivan Vazquez gave XULA a 3-0 lead
with his 6-2, 6-4 victory against Bigot on court six,
but victories by Ben Jemaa — who saved eight match points against Hell in a three-set
decision on court one — and Nguyen cut XULA's lead to 3-2.
The Gold Rush finally exhaled when Suarez won, and
Woody finished the competition with a 5-7, 6-0, 7-6 (7-3) victory against Martin.
Bain defeated Rodriguez 6-1, 6-1 on court two.
"Today was a very tough opener that almost got away from us,"
21st-year XULA head coach
Alan Green said. "That Dillard team has come a long way in a short time,
and Coach (Meenakshi) Sundaram had those guys ready to roll today.
They are definitely a top-20 team, and this could have gone the other way.
Our guys stepped up and closed it out when the match was on the line in
both singles and doubles. Now we have to go back to work and be ready for nationals later this week."
Both XULA teams will travel to Overland Park, Kan.,
for the three-day ITA NAIA National Indoor Championships at Overland Park Racquet Club.
The XULA men will play Tennessee Wesleyan in the first round at 3 p.m. Friday.
