Saturday, April 1, 2017

Nuggets climb again in NAIA — this time to No. 9


NEW ORLEANS — For the first time in four years, Xavier University of Louisiana has climbed in three consecutive NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 polls.
     

The Gold Nuggets (5-6) moved Tuesday from 10th to ninth. The XULA women have improved by 10 spots since the preseason poll, mainly on the strength of four victories against ranked opponents. Their most recent dual match was a 9-0 victory at No. 22 St. Thomas (Fla.) March 17.
     

The 2013 Gold Nuggets climbed six consecutive times in the polls en route to the first-ever NAIA No. 1 ranking by a XULA team in any sport.
     

The ranking is the Gold Nuggets' highest since No. 4 on May 20, 2015. This is the 27th all-time top-10 appearance for XULA's women.
     

Next for XULA will be a pair of duals Saturday at Alexandria (La.) City Courts. The Gold Nuggets will play NAIA No. 13 LSU-Alexandria at 9 a.m. and Grambling of NCAA Division I at 1 p.m. The Gold Nuggets' next home appearance will be April 13 at 11 a.m. against NAIA No. 10 William Carey at XULA Tennis Center.

NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses — records through March 26)

RankTeamRecordPointsLast
1Georgia Gwinnett (14)18-03741
2Lindsey Wilson11-43622
3SCAD Savannah10-33503
4Keiser11-53384
5Northwestern Ohio10-430315
6William Woods4-63006
7-tieSan Diego Christian9-22988
7-tieMobile18-22987
9XULA5-627910
10William Carey9-22649
11Indiana Wesleyan22-625711
12Cardinal Stritch2-82485
13LSU-Alexandria10-024312
14Davenport5-4205tie-13
15Arizona Christian11-620116
16Middle Georgia12-519418
17Olivet Nazarene1-617017
18Campbellsville3-4163RV
19SCAD Atlanta5-614121
20Cumberlands8-6122RV
21McPherson1-211420
22St. Thomas (Fla.)4-810822
23Lewis-Clark State3-10104tie-24
24Marian (Ind.)12-7102tie-24
25Coastal Georgia10-899RV

Dropped from rankings:  No. 13 (tie) Brenau, No. 19 Cumberland, No. 23 Reinhardt   
Others receiving votes:  Reinhardt 90, Cumberland 84, Brenau 76, Georgetown (Ky.) 47, Tennessee Wesleyan 22, Southwestern (Kan.) 7, Westmont 7, Missouri Valley 5, Huntington 5, Texas Wesleyan 3


Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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