Good to the last drop — No. 2 XULA defeats Loyola 7-0

NEW ORLEANS — The dual match had long since been decided — Xavier University of Louisiana, ranked second in NAIA men’s tennis, won at home Monday against city rival Loyola — but XULA hadn’t stopped battling.
And it was an exhilarating finish in singles for XULA. Freshman Jered Wilson and sophomore Guillermo Coiras both trailed in their second sets and in their super-tiebreakers, but both rallied to win and give XULA a 7-0 victory.
It was the first dual of the season for both teams. It was XULA’s first competition in the Southern States Athletic Conference — the school’s first regular-season league match since 2010.
Wilson trailed 3-1, 4-3 and 5-4 in his second set and 9-7 in his super-tiebreaker, but persevered to deliver a 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (11-9) victory against Ernesto Telles.
The comeback of Coiras at No. 5 singles was even more stunning. He trailed 3-0 in the second set and 9-4, 10-9 and 11-10 in the super-tiebreaker, but Coiras rallied for a 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (14-12) victory against Herman Aure. Coiras won on his only match point.
“Two amazing but well-deserved comeback victories,” 18th-year XULA head coach Alan Green said. “As the season progresses, I hope all our guys remember these matches of Jered and Guillermo and dig in a little harder when the going gets tough.”
XULA won all six singles matches and 2-of-3 in doubles. Newcomer Juan Ramirez clinched on the second singles court by defeating Theo Debackere 6-3, 6-1.
NAIA All-Americans Santiago Perez and Shaikh Abdullah won in straight sets — Perez 6-2, 6-0 against Aubin Duchier and Abdullah 6-1, 6-3 against Sam Marin. Another newcomer, Juan Varon, won 6-1, 6-4 against Tiger Cheung.
In doubles, Perez and Abdullah won 6-0 against Duchier and Debackere, and Ramirez and Varon clinched the point by beating Cheung and Joseph Short 6-2.
XULA has a 13-dual home win streak and won 34 of its last 37 at home.