XU Gold Rush back in NAIA top 10 after climbing two places

NEW ORLEANS — For the fourth time in five polls, Xavier University of Louisiana is among the top 10 in the NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25.

The Gold Rush (13-9) climbed two spots Tuesday to No. 9 after beating Bethel (Tenn.) 6-0 and Martin Methodist 5-2 to win an NAIA National Championship qualifying tournament at Chattanooga, Tenn. XU's men qualified for the national tournament for the third consecutive year.

Xavier was No. 8, a program record, for three consecutive polls beginning March 8.

The Gold Rush are in the the top 25 for the 31st consecutive time dating to April 4, 2007 — that's the fifth longest active streak among NAIA men's teams — and it's the 22nd straight time dating to April 30, 2008, that the Gold Rush are among the top 18.

NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll(first-place votes in parentheses — records through Sunday, May 1) Rank Team Record Points Last 1 Fresno Pacific (12) 21-2 312 1 2 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 14-6 302 2 3 Auburn Montgomery 23-3 291 3 4 Oklahoma Christian 21-1 279 5 5 Azusa Pacific 15-6 276 4 6 Westmont 12-5 262 6 7 Point Loma Nazarene 15-7 252 7 8 Vanguard 7-13 228 12 9 Xavier 13-9 225 11 10 Union (Ky.) 17-5 217 10 11 Concordia (Calif.) 8-14 207 8 12 Shorter 12-4 206 15 13 Graceland 11-5 193 13 14 William Carey 12-9 183 9 15 Lindsey Wilson 14-5 176 17 16 Aquinas 24-3 174 14 17 St. Thomas (Fla.) 14-3 157 16 18 Olivet Nazarene 14-3 132 19 19 Lewis-Clark State 10-8 127 18 20 McKendree 20-3 122 tie-20 21 Tennessee Wesleyan 11-6 115 22 22 SCAD Savannah 7-4 109 tie-20 23 Martin Methodist 14-5 90 23 24 Webber International 13-6 79 24 25 Bethany (Kan.) 19-3 69 tie-25 Others receiving votes: Lee (Tenn.) 59; Campbellsville 41, Northwood (Fla.) 23, Huntington (Ind.) 23, Cumberland 22, Lindenwood 19, Northwestern Ohio 13, Walsh 6, Our Lady of the Lake 5, Georgetown (Ky.) 1, Biola 1.

NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll(first-place votes in parentheses — records through Sunday, May 1) Rank Team Record Points Last 1 Fresno Pacific (10) 18-4 281 1 2 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (1) 20-3 272 2 3 Auburn Montgomery 23-5 260 4 4 Azusa Pacific 19-4 253 6 5 Oklahoma Christian 17-2 244 5 6 Point Loma Nazarene 18-3 242 3 7 Concordia (Calif.) 14-7 226 7 8 Brenau 10-7 218 8 9 SCAD Savannah 10-2 207 9 10 Vanguard 10-10 201 10 11 Southern Nazarene 14-6 184 12 12 William Carey 14-6 182 13 13 Lee (Tenn.) 9-5 171 16 14 Olivet Nazarene 19-1 160 14 15 Shorter 11-4 156 11 16-tie Indiana Wesleyan 21-1 139 17 16-tie Lewis-Clark State 6-14 139 21 18 Martin Methodist 15-5 127 18 19 Lindsey Wilson 13-5 121 23 20 Oklahoma Baptist 9-10 110 15 21 St. Thomas (Fla.) 9-9 102 19 22 Campbellsville 14-5 96 20 23 William Jewell 17-7 90 22 24 Webber International 12-9 68 24 25 Belhaven 14-3 60 25 Others receiving votes: Westmont 42, Milligan 41, Cumberlands 27, Robert Morris (Chicago) 23, Indiana Southeast 19, McKendree 17, Taylor 5, The Master's 3, Northwood (Fla.) 3, Xavier 1, Mobile 1, Georgetown (Ky.) 1, Spring Hill 1,; Marian (Ind.) 1.

Lee (Tenn.) dropped out of the top 25 after being tied for 25th in the previous poll. That snapped the Flames' streak of 47 consecutive appearances in the top 25. There are no new teams in this week's top 25, and Xavier was one of seven teams to climb. The top three teams are the same as the previous poll, with Fresno Pacific ranked first for the 14th consecutive time. Martin Methodist, 0-2 this season against Xavier, remained 23rd.

This was the seventh of eight polls this season. The final rankings will be announced Sunday.

The Gold Rush will play May 17 in the first round or May 18 in the second round of the NAIA National Championship at Mobile, Ala.

Xavier's women, whose season ended Saturday with a 5-0 loss to Milligan in the semifinals of the qualifying tournament, are out of the top 25 for the fourth consecutive time. The Gold Nuggets collected one point to tie for 35th place.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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