The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Despite nursing a slight injury, Bahamian Jacobi Bain and his Xavier University of Louisiana partner Nereo Suarez still managed to win the men’s doubles title at the NAIA Gulf Regional Championships at the XULA Tennis Center in New Orleans.

As the top seeds, Bain and Suarez avenged their defeat in last year’s final by winning the title with a hard fought 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 victory on Sunday, automatically qualifying for the ITA Cup from October 12-16 in Rome, Georgia.

It was the second straight win for Bain and Suarez, who are coming off their victory at the HBCU Nationals at South Fulton Tennis Center in College Park, Georgia where they defeated Morgan State’s top-seeded Mikeal Carpenter and Niles Rachel in a A-bracket final on September 16.

For Bain, who along with Saurez were named to the 2022-23 All-Louisiana collegiate team, it’s a great start to what he anticipates will be a banner year for the 20-year-old sophomore, who is now studying mass communication.

“This one was a little tougher because I’m dealing with a slight injury, so it’s kind of tough to manage,” said Bain, who is playing through a torn ACL in his left leg. “My partner played well. He helped me out when I really needed him.

“We were just able to gel very well together and we played very well when it mattered.”

Although he came home and played in the sixth Bahamas Games, helping the Andros Chickcharnies to capture the gold medal in tennis, Bain said he used it to help with his rehab from the injury he sustained back in late April.

Bain, however, said he’s only playing doubles, so he was able to deal with any slight pain that he experienced on the court. It helps when he has a partner like Saurez.

As they now look ahead to the nationals next week, Bain said he will continue to work through the pain because there’s a lot at stake and he wants to be able to make his contribution to their doubles team and eventually to the success of XULA men’s tennis.

“This is going to be a tough tournament, but I know we can hang with those guys,” Bain said. “So I’m just going to work through our practice sessions this week and next week as we get closer to the tournament.

“I’m going to train my best, working on my vollies, working on my returns and working on my serves. This one is going to be tough because there are a lot of good teams out there, so we have to try and do our best and hopefully take home the title.”

Even though he gets a little sore at times, Bain said for the most part, he’s okay.

As for the 2022-23 All-Louisiana collegiate team, Bain made the first team, and Suarez was second team. The state’s college tennis publicists picked the team for the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.

Bain was 20-9 in singles and 24-6 in doubles. He was No. 14 in singles and, with Suarez, No. 2 in doubles in the final ITA/NAIA national rankings.

Bain replaced two-time Louisiana Player of the Year Santiago Perez at the top of the lineup — Bain played No. 4 singles in 2022 — and helped the Gold Rush achieve more success, including nine team victories against ranked opponents.

Bain was second-team All-Louisiana and Freshman of the Year his previous season. Suarez, from Santa Fe, Argentina, was 17-11 in singles — he played No. 2 in the spring — and 22-9 in doubles.

He became the third freshman in Gold Rush history to reach No. 2 in the final ITA doubles rankings. His four Red River Athletic Conference player-of-the-week awards led XULA during the spring and matched the most ever by a Gold Rush freshman.

Suarez clinched doubles and singles points in a 4-0 home victory against NAIA No. 8 William Carey — XULA’s first shutout of the Crusaders in 13 years — and began his college career with four victories in three days to win the singles C-flight at the HBCU National Championships.

Suarez and Bain were doubles runner-up at the NAIA Gulf ITA Regional Championships.

In June, Bain and Suarez earned ITA NAIA All-America. The XULA men were 18-7 in dual matches, a repeat champion in an NAIA unaffiliated group qualifying tournament, an NAIA national’s quarterfinalist and No. 7 in the final NAIA coaches’ poll.

Bain, who attended Windsor Academy and was a part of the Albany Tennis Academy, is the son of Bradley and Marion Bain, both local coaches in tennis.

“School has been pretty good. I’m just trying to get through all of my classes. I’m doing pretty good in all my classes right now,” he stated.

“I’m just looking forward to the end of the year and going home to reset and get ready for next semester.”