Tournament information
NAIA men's tennis preseason coaches poll
NEW ORLEANS —
The seventh-seeded Xavier University of Louisiana men will play second-seeded Tennessee Wesleyan
at 3 p.m. CST Friday in the second annual Intercollegiate Tennis Association NAIA National Indoor Championships
at Overland Park, Kan.
Overland Park Racquet Club is the venue for the three-day, eight-team event.
This is the second dual match of the season for the Gold Rush.
XULA opened Sunday with a 5-2 home victory against Dillard. Last season the XULA men were
18-7, won an NAIA unaffiliated group qualifying tournament and reached the quarterfinals
of NAIA nationals in May. XULA men's tennis qualified for nationals for the 14th straight time to
extend the school record for any sport.
The other first-round matchups Friday are top-seeded Georgia Gwinnett
vs. eighth-seeded Coastal Georgia, fourth-seeded Southeastern (Fla.) vs. fifth-seeded Westcliff and
third-seeded Northwestern Ohio vs. sixth-seeded William Woods.
The Gold Rush were 2-1 at indoor nationals in 2023,
beating Kansas Wesleyan and Lindsey Wilson after a 4-3 first-round loss to Tennessee Wesleyan.
Returning for XULA from last season are
Jacobi Bain,
Julius Hell,
Dedric Ray,
Nereo Suarez,
Jered Wilson and
VanDer Woody. Newcomers are freshmen
Artur Yakubov and
Ivan Vazquez;
Yakubov enrolled at XULA in January. Letterman
Langston Williams rejoined the team this season.
Bain and Suarez were ITA NAIA All-Americans last season, and
Wilson won the ITA NAIA National Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship Award.
This season XULA is fifth in the NAIA preseason coaches poll.
In the ITA NAIA preseason national player rankings, Woody is 37th and Hell 38th
in singles. In doubles, Hell and Woody are No. 2, and Bain and Suarez are No. 3.
Tennessee Wesleyan also has two top-10 doubles teams —
Nicolas Cortes and Octavio Volpi are No. 6, and David Leon and Zoilo Rios are No. 8.
The XULA men will play their next home match
at noon Feb. 25 against Loyola of New Orleans at XULA Tennis Center. The Gold Rush
have won 33 straight dual matches at home dating to April 2018.
Alan Green is in his 21st season as head coach, and he's closing in
on 300 career victories with the Gold Rush. Green reached 300 victories last season with the XULA women.
Three former XULA players —
Lacee Ancar,
Farah Baklouti
and
Sebastian Perez — are assistant coaches this season. This is Ancar's fourth year on the staff
and the second apiece for Baklouti and Perez.
