Xavier Gold Rush eighth in final NAIA coaches poll of the season

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana climbed one notch Monday to reach a program-record-tying No. 8 in the final NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 of the season.

The Gold Rush (13-9), idle since winning a qualifying tournament for the NAIA National Championship at Chattanooga, Tenn., on April 30, swapped places with Vanguard from last week's poll. Xavier won 6-3 at Vanguard on March 4.

Xavier first reached No. 8 in the March 8 poll and remained there for two additional rankings. XU's men were in the top 10 in five of the final six polls.

This is the first Xavier team to reach the top 10 in a final NAIA poll since women's basketball was No. 4 in 1997-98.

The Gold Rush are in the the top 25 for the 32nd consecutive time dating to April 4, 2007 — that's the fifth longest active streak among NAIA men's teams — and it's the 23rd straight time dating to April 30, 2008, that the Gold Rush are among the top 18. It's the sixth consecutive season that the XU men are among the top 25 in the final poll.

Xavier has qualified for the national tournament for the third consecutive season. The NAIA will announce seedings and pairings for the 24-team event by 5 p.m. Tuesday. The tournament will begin May 17 at Mobile, Ala.

Fresno Pacific received all the first-place votes and is No. 1 in the final poll for the second straight season.

Xavier's women, whose season ended April 30 with a 5-0 loss to Milligan in the semifinals of the qualifying tournament, are out of the top 25 for the fifth consecutive time after 44 straight appearances. The Gold Nuggets collected three points, two more than last week, to tie for 33rd place.

In last season's final polls, Xavier's men were 16th, and the women were 19th. This is the first time since 2003 that the Gold Nuggets are not among the final top 25.

NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll(first-place votes in parentheses — records through Sunday, May 8) Rank Team Record Points Last 1 Fresno Pacific (10) 21-2 250 1 2 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 14-6 242 2 3 Auburn Montgomery 23-3 233 3 4 Oklahoma Christian 21-1 226 4 5 Azusa Pacific 15-6 218 5 6 Westmont 12-5 210 6 7 Point Loma Nazarene 15-7 200 7 8 Xavier 13-9 192 9 9 Vanguard 7-13 183 8 10 Union (Ky.) 17-5 177 10 11 Shorter 12-4 166 12 12 Concordia (Calif.) 8-14 163 11 13 Graceland 11-5 151 13 14 Lindsey Wilson 14-5 147 15 15 William Carey 12-9 143 14 16 Aquinas 24-3 136 16 17 St. Thomas (Fla.) 14-3 119 17 18 Olivet Nazarene 14-3 110 18 19 Lewis-Clark State 10-8 103 19 20 McKendree 20-3 99 20 21 Tennessee Wesleyan 11-6 90 21 22 SCAD Savannah 7-4 84 22 23 Martin Methodist 14-5 82 23 24 Bethany (Kan.) 21-3 61 25 25 Webber International 13-6 60 24 Others receiving votes: Lee (Tenn.) 47, Campbellsville 33, Cumberland 22, Lindenwood 20, Northwood (Fla.) 18, Northwestern Ohio 15, Biola 8, Our Lady of the Lake 7, Georgetown (Ky.) 1.

NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll(first-place votes in parentheses — records through Sunday, May 8) Rank Team Record Points Last 1 Fresno Pacific (11) 18-4 312 1 2 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (1) 20-3 302 2 3 Auburn Montgomery 23-5 288 3 4 Azusa Pacific 19-4 281 4 5 Oklahoma Christian 17-2 274 5 6 Point Loma Nazarene 19-3 265 6 7 Concordia (Calif.) 14-7 252 7 8 Brenau 10-7 241 8 9 SCAD Savannah 10-2 231 9 10 Vanguard 10-10 222 10 11 Southern Nazarene 14-6 208 11 12 William Carey 14-6 203 12 13 Lee (Tenn.) 9-5 192 13 14 Olivet Nazarene 19-1 176 14 15 Shorter 11-4 173 15 16 Lewis-Clark State 6-14 155 tie-16 17 Indiana Wesleyan 21-1 154 tie-16 18 Martin Methodist 15-5 145 18 19 Lindsey Wilson 13-5 139 19 20 Oklahoma Baptist 9-10 112 20 21 Campbellsville 14-5 111 22 22 St. Thomas (Fla.) 9-9 108 21 23 William Jewell 17-7 96 23 24 Webber International 12-8 79 24 25 Belhaven 14-3 68 25 Others receiving votes: Westmont 49, Milligan 49, McKendree 27, Indiana Southeast 26, Robert Morris (Chicago) 18, Cumberlands 16, Taylor 6, Xavier 3, Marian (Ind.) 3, Georgetown (Ky.) 1, Spring Hill 1, Northwood (Fla.) 1, Mobile 1, Northwestern Ohio 1.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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