Gold Rush seventh, Nuggets 19th in NAIA coaches polls

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana is riding high in the NAIA Tennis Coaches' Top 25 polls announced Tuesday afternoon.

The XU men are seventh, the highest rank in the program's history. The women are 19th, their highest position in two years.

Winning championships Saturday in an NAIA unaffiliated group tournament at Norcross, Ga., helped the Gold Rush (17-7) and Gold Nuggets (7-21) climb. XU's men beat 16th-ranked Cumberland 5-0 for their title, and the women rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win 5-2 against Martin Methodist, which was 17th at the time but is 21st in the new rankings.

The Gold Rush were eighth in the previous poll on April 17, and the Nuggets were atop the list of others receiving votes.

XU's men appear in the top 25 for the 39th consecutive time — that streak began April 4, 2007 — and in the top 10 for the ninth straight time, including all seven this season, and in 12 of the last 13 polls.

XU's women are in the top 25 for the second time this season — the first was on March 20 — and just the second time in the past 12 polls. That's a relative drought for a program which appeared in 44 consecutive top-25s from 2004-11.

The Saturday victories earned both Xavier teams automatic berths in the NAIA National Championships at Mobile, Ala., on May 15-19. The Gold Rush qualified for the fourth consecutive year, and the Gold Nuggets
qualified for the sixth time in eight seasons.

Fresno Pacific is No. 1 in the men's poll for an NAIA-record 21st consecutive time. Auburn Montgomery leads the women for the seventh time in as many polls this season. New polls will be announced Monday and on May 22. Pairings for the national tournaments will be revealed next Tuesday.

NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through Sunday, April 29) Rank Team Record Points Last 1 Fresno Pacific (13) 22-1 343 1 2 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 18-3 332 2 3 Oklahoma Christian 16-3 318 3 4 Azusa Pacific 19-2 312 4 5 Auburn Montgomery 16-7 297 5 6 Vanguard 14-10 291 9 7 Xavier 17-7 271 8 8 Westmont 11-9 268 10 9 Point Loma Nazarene 12-10 253 6 10 William Carey 16-4 244 11 11 Concordia (Calif.) 8-12 238 7 12 Lindsey Wilson 18-5 224 12 13 Aquinas 23-2 207 13 14 Bethany (Kan.) 18-3 200 14 15 Belhaven 15-3 188 15 16 Cumberland 17-2 182 16 17 Warner 13-4 161 17 18 Campbellsville 14-6 155 18 19 Lewis-Clark State 11-9 142 24 20 Northwestern Ohio 18-6 132 22 21 Shorter 12-15 124 tie-25 22 Olivet Nazarene 15-4 106 tie-25 23 Webber International 15-7 95 23 24 Our Lady of the Lake 7-7 92 21 25 Lee (Tenn.) 9-8 83 20 Others receiving votes: McPherson 59, Spring Arbor 53, Pikeville 50, Biola 41, Roberts Wesleyan 17, Northwood (Fla.) 12, Bethel (Tenn.) 11, Taylor 3, Hastings 1, Asbury 1, Davenport 1, Oklahoma Baptist 1, Mobile 1, SCAD Atlanta 1.

NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through Sunday, April 29) Rank Team Record Points Last 1 Auburn Montgomery (13) 22-2 343 1 2 Fresno Pacific 20-4 332 2 3 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 18-3 321 3 4 Oklahoma Christian 16-3 309 4 5 Azusa Pacific 17-3 300 5 6 Point Loma Nazarene 16-5 285 6 7 Brenau 13-5 280 7 8 Concordia (Calif.) 14-7 266 8 9 William Carey 14-9 252 9 10 Southern Nazarene 12-5 246 10 11-tie Shorter 20-8 227 11 11-tie Lindsey Wilson 15-3 227 12 13 SCAD Savannah 9-3 210 13 14 Lewis-Clark State 7-14 200 14 15 Vanguard 9-14 189 15 16 Indiana Wesleyan 22-2 181 16 17 Lee (Tenn.) 9-7 149 18 18 Campbellsville 13-6 148 19 19 Xavier 7-21 147 RV 20 Westmont 7-11 131 20 21 Martin Methodist 11-4 129 17 22 Robert Morris (Chicago) 17-2 125 21 23 St. Thomas (Fla.) 5-4 102 22 24 Oklahoma Baptist 10-8 93 23 25 Marian (Ind.) 21-6 79 24 Others receiving votes: Northwestern Ohio 66, Davenport 45, Webber International 31, Belhaven 31, Nebraska Wesleyan 17, Bethel (Kan.) 15, Olivet Nazarene 11, Missouri Valley 6, Georgetown (Ky.) 5, Indiana Southeast 5, Milligan (Tenn.) 3.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
VISIT: XULAATHLETICS
VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA