NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana men's tennis will try to win an NAIA unaffiliated group tournament championship for the fourth consecutive year when it competes in a 10-team event at San Antonio, Texas.
        The Gold Rush (11-8) had a first-round bye and will play Ottawa University Arizona — a 7-0 winner Wednesday against Northern New Mexico — in the quarterfinals no sooner than noon CDT Thursday at Blossom Tennis Center.
        Tournament winner will earn an automatic bid to NAIA nationals May 13-17 at Mobile, Ala.
        Entered are teams from four conferences: the Red River Athletic (XULA, host Our Lady of the Lake, Texas A&M-Texarkana), HBCU Athletic (Dillard, Rust), Great Southwest (OUAZ, Arizona Christian, Hope International), Cascade Collegiate (Lewis-Clark State) and Continental Athletic (Northern New Mexico).
        In the ITA NAIA rankings of April 10, XULA's Nereo Suarez was seventh and Jacobi Bain 28th in singles. In doubles, Bain and Suarez were 13th, and Ivan Vazquez and Gabriel Velez are 25th.
        XULA's NAIA team rankings: eighth in the coaches poll of April 9 and 14th on the ITA computer-generated list.
        The Gold Rush seek a 16th consecutive bid to NAIA nationals, which would extend the school record among all XULA teams.