Bain successful in college debut

It was a successful weekend for Bahamian collegiate tennis player Jacobi Bain as he made his debut on the collegiate scene when he advanced to the singles and doubles finals. A top junior on the local scene, Bain helped his Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) men’s team champion of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) National Championships at South Fulton Tennis Center, College Park, Georgia.

Bain was undefeated as he made it to the finals in the C-singles and in the B-doubles. The C-bracket singles final was not played due to inclement weather but he was co-champion. The B-bracket doubles 

champion will be determined later when he and his partners take on their fellow Gold teammates.

It was a great showing by the Gold Rush, as they are called, who competes in the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) went up against (NCAA) National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I teams. They scored 18 points with Alcorn State University finishing second with 15 points. Jackson State University placed third with 11.5 points.

“The tournament was very well and the team did well,” Bain said.

“The competition was pretty tough in some matches. The toughest match I had was in my quarterfinal match where I started to cramp. I played three doubles matches before that. I was able to overcome that.”

Playing with threatening inclement weather, Bain and his teammates as the tournament had started a day late. In the singles semifinals, Bain started to cramp again before his opponent retired giving Bain the victory and into the finals.

He went on to reach the quarterfinal with an easy 6-0, 6-2 victory over Alabama A&M’s Cheng Yang in the first round.

In the doubles, Bain and partner Juan Ramirez got to the B-bracket double final in some hard fought matches. They will play teammates Guillermo Coiras and Dedric Ray for the title on a future date.

Making the jump to college has been easy for the freshman who attended the Albany Tennis Academy for the last four years.

“I have been adjusting pretty well with classes and tennis. My schedule is flexible, so I have been able to do my studies,” Bain said.

Though they have played in one tournament so far, they only had one team practice since the semester started. Hurricane Ida and bad weather were the reasons for the lack of more than one team practice.

It is the third time that the Gold Rush has won the tournament having done so back-to-back in 2015 and 2016. The women’s team also won the championship this year – the first time both teams swept the championship.

Bain and the Gold Rush return to action October 1-3 when they host the NAIA Men’s and Women’s Gulf ITA (Intercollegiate Tennis Association) Regional Championships.

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