ATLANTA - Numerous Xavier men's tennis players proved themselves the equal of NCAA Division I athletes gathered at the South Fulton Tennis Center for the first day of the 25th Annual HBCU National Tennis Championships. 

This tournament, which is structured around a series of single-elimination brackets, attracts athletes from across the nation and all levels of college athletics, but NCAA Division I players make up the majority of the field. 

Both XULA doubles teams in the Flight A bracket, reserved for athletes who typically play on the No. 1 or 2 courts, advanced to Friday's quarterfinals, with matches slated for 4:30 p.m. CST.

VanDer Woody and Christian Sanchez defeated Marcin Dojczynski and Kasper Kulpa of Norfolk State, 7-6(7). The duo will next face Flor De Sitter and Martin Catrice of Alabama State. 

The match was an early indicator of how the Gold Rush might seek to continue its strong doubles play from a year ago, when Sanchez and the now-graduated Nereo Suarez were among the top 3 doubles pairs in the NAIA.  

In the other Flight A doubles match featuring XULA, newcomer Fatih Sisic partnered with Edilson Rosa to defeat Kohei Konishi and Aryan Arora of Hampton, 7-6(6). Sisic and Rosa will face Vicent Llobell Buigues and Joseph Puig McCallan of Alcorn State in the quarterfinals. 

Sisic and Sanchez, both of whom are competing in the Flight A singles bracket, received byes into the Round of 16, and will play those matches at 8 a.m. Friday morning. Sisis will play Kasper Kulpa of Norfolk State while Sanchez will play Marcus Weeks of Howard.

In the Flight B singles bracket,  Rosa bested Tuskegee's Justice Wilson 6-1, 6-2 to reach the Round of 16, where he will face No. 2 seed Szymon Janzen of Norfolk State at 8 a.m. CST Friday.

Newcomer Yarona Morule defeated Tuskegee's Jack Shaw 6-1, 6-3 to advance to the Round of 16 in the Flight C bracket, and he will face top-seeded Luka Videnovic of Alabama State at 9 a.m. CST Friday.

Martin Rivera received a bye into the Flight C Round of 16, where he will play 4-seeded Mark Nawa of North Carolina Central at 9 a.m. CST on Friday.

In Flight B doubles play,  Rivera and Jan Markan fell 6-1 to Jackson State's Adrian Matei Nedelcu, while Emmanuel Jebutu and Marule fell 7-6(3) to Lucas Hartley and Angel Maffezzoli of North Carolina Central. 

Woody fell to Jerry Christopher Brow Salinas of Jackson State 7-5, 6-3, and Jebutu fell to Adrian Matei Nedelcu of North Carolina Central 6-3, 1-6, 10-4, both in Flight B singles action. 

Markan fell to Minhoon Lee of Alabama A&M 6-3, 6-4 in the Flight C singles bracket. 

Detailed results from all HBCU National Tennis Championships are available on the ITA website.