Wednesday, May 9, 2012

XU Nuggets get rematch with Vanguard at NAIA tournament

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana will play Vanguard at 9 a.m. next Tuesday in the opening round of the NAIA Women's Tennis Championship at Mobile, Ala.

The NAIA announced the pairings Tuesday.

It will be a rematch between the Gold Nuggets (7-21) and the Lions (9-14), who won the final two doubles matches to rally for a 5-4 victory against Xavier on April 5 at Costa Mesa, Calif. Since then Xavier has won 4-of-5 duals, including all three in an NAIA unaffiliated group tournament which earned the Nuggets an automatic bid to nationals.

It will be the sixth time in eight seasons that the Nuggets compete at nationals. They're 5-0 in first-round matchups there, but never have they advanced past the second round.

Vanguard finished fifth in the Golden State Athletic Conference, which has of the tournament's 24 teams, and received the last of 10 at-large bids.

Vanguard was 15th and Xavier 20th in the coaches poll announced Monday. The Nuggets dropped one place from a week ago, but it was the first time this season that the XU women appeared in back-to-back top 25s.

Sophomore Kourtney Howell and freshman Amanda Materre are Xavier's top two players. Howell is 27th in the Campbell's-Intercollegiate Tennis Association NAIA singles rankings, and Materre is 38th. Howell was the NAIA Women's Tennis Player of the Week for April 23-29.

Auburn Montgomery is the defending champion. Copeland-Cox Tennis Center is the tournament venue.

NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll(first-place votes in parentheses — records through Sunday, May 6)
RankTeamRecordPointsLast
1Auburn Montgomery (13)22-23431
2Fresno Pacific20-43322
3Embry-Riddle (Fla.)18-33213
4Oklahoma Christian16-33104
5Azusa Pacific17-32995
6Point Loma Nazarene16-52866
7Brenau13-52797
8Concordia (Calif.)14-72668
9William Carey14-9253 9
10Southern Nazarene12-524310
11Lindsey Wilson15-3231tie-11
12Shorter19-8226tie-11
13SCAD Savannah9-320913
14Lewis-Clark State7-1420114
15Vanguard9-1418715
16Indiana Wesleyan22-218116
17Campbellsville13-615818
18Lee (Tenn.)9-715417
19Westmont7-1114520
20Xavier7-2114119
21Martin Methodist11-412621
22Robert Morris (Chicago)17-212622
23St. Thomas (Fla.)5-49723
24Oklahoma Baptist10-889 24
25Marian (Ind.)21-67625

Others receiving votes: Northwestern Ohio 68, Davenport 36, Webber International 35, Belhaven 27, Nebraska Wesleyan 26, Olivet Nazarene 10, Georgetown (Ky.) 9, Bethel (Kan.) 8, Indiana Southeast 4, Missouri Valley 3, Milligan 1.

Tournament bracket (PDF) NAIA tournament website

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

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