NEW ORLEANS - The Xavier men's tennis team found itself in quite a struggle against NCAA Division II opponent Drury here on Wednesday. However, after a series of back-and-forth doubles and singles matches, including 5-of-6 singles matches that went to a tiebreaking third set, the Gold Rush emerged as 6-1 victors. 

Xavier (8-4), currently ranked No. 10 in the NAIA, won 2-of-3 matches to earn the doubles point, as Nereo Suarez and Christian Sanchez defeated Chuy Gonzalez and Tristan Stock 7-5 in a closely contested No. 1 match, while Martin Rivera and Gabriel Velez defeated Lukas Rieber and Matthieu Gachon by the same score in an equally competitive No. 3. 

Then the battle with Drury (6-2), which plays in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, truly began.

Suarez defeated Gonzalez 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 in the No. 1 singles match, Edilson Rosa defeated Rieber 6-4, 6-1 at No. 5, and Samy Dahmany defeated Oscar Reis 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 at No. 6. 

But it was the battles at No. 2 and 3 that truly stole the show in terms of drama. 

In the No. 2 match, Sanchez found himself battling it out with Gachon, with Sanchez taking the first set 7-5, then falling on the fourth tiebreaker in the second before outlasting Gachon 7-5 in the third. 

Meanwhile, at No. 3, Emmanuel Jebutu was dueling it out with Marco Romano, who took the first set 7-5. Jebutu answered, though, with a 6-2 win in the second set and a 6-3 win in the third.

The road only gets tougher for the Gold Rush, who next travel to the NAIA Blast Off Tournament in Rome, Georgia, where back-to-back matches against top-5 teams await. Xavier will play No. 5 Cumberlands (Ky.) Friday and No. 2 Tennessee Wesleyan on Saturday. 

After those tough matches, XULA returns home for a match against No. 13 Missouri Baptist on March 19 and No. 14 St. Thomas (Fla.) on March 25.