Gold Nuggets one place from joining Gold Rush in top 10

NEW ORLEANS — A 3-1 record — the program's best start since 2007 — moved Xavier University of Louisiana's women's tennis team from 13th to 11th in the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 poll announced Tuesday afternoon.

Still in the top 10 are the Xavier men, who fell from eighth to 10th after a pair of losses to top-10 opponents. Still, it's the 13th consecutive time that the Gold Rush are in the top 10 and the 16th time in the last 17 polls.

Xavier never has had both tennis teams in the NAIA top 10 simultaneously, but this is the closest that coach Alan Green's programs have come to achieving that status. It's the second consecutive poll that both teams are among the top 15 — the other time that happened was in 2009.

The Gold Nuggets — a top-25 team in just 4-of-9 polls a year ago after a streak of 44 consecutive top-25 appearances from 2004-11 — bolstered their resumé this past weekend with a come-from-behind 5-4 victory against then-No. 18 Oklahoma Baptist and a 6-1 decision against Prairie View A&M. The victory against the Lady Panthers was the Nuggets' first since 2009 against an NCAA Division I member.

The Gold Rush (3-3) suffered 6-3 losses to top-10s William Carey and Bethany (Kan.) since the preseason rankings, but Xavier also defeated Oklahoma Baptist — 21st this week after receiving no votes in January — and Prairie View.

The top-25 appearance is the 43rd in a row for the XU men dating to April 4, 2007.

Xavier is one of eight schools — the others are Auburn Montgomery, Concordia (Calif.), Embry-Riddle (Fla.), Lindsey Wilson, Vanguard, Westmont and William Carey — with both teams in the top 11.

The next XU home duals will start at 2 p.m. Saturday for the Gold Nuggets against NCAA Division I's McNeese State and 3 p.m. on Feb. 28 for the Nuggets and Rush against Belhaven, which has both its teams in the NAIA top 25.

NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through Sunday, Feb. 17) Rank Team Record Points Last 1 Auburn Montgomery (13) 2-1 343 1 2 Brenau 3-0 332 3 3 SCAD Savannah 2-1 315 9 4 Lindsey Wilson 0-1 308 4 5 Westmont 5-1 299 8 6 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 1-3 285 2 7 William Carey 1-3 281 6 8 Concordia (Calif.) 2-4 264 5 9 Lewis-Clark State 2-1 262 7 10 Vanguard 1-4 239 10 11 Xavier 3-1 228 13 12 Indiana Wesleyan 15-0 226 11 13 Campbellsville 0-1 215 12 14 Olivet Nazarene 2-0 195 14 15 Lee (Tenn.) 1-0 187 15 16 Oklahoma Baptist 0-3 181 18 17 Robert Morris (Chicago) 0-0 168 16 18 St. Thomas (Fla.) 1-3 163 17 19 Marian (Ind.) 11-2 146 19 20 Cumberland 0-1 130 22 21 Nebraska Wesleyan 1-4 114 24 22 Belhaven 2-0 107 23 23 Martin Methodist 0-1 97 21 24 Bethel (Kan.) 0-2 79 20 25 Davenport 4-3 71 25 Others receiving votes: Georgetown (Ky.) 63, Milligan 62, Webber International 60, Evangel 23, Indiana Southeast 13, Graceland 11, Northwood (Fla.) 9, Arizona Christian 5, Cumberlands 3, Ashford 3.

NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through Sunday, Feb. 17) Rank Team Record Points Last 1 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (9) 3-1 310 1 2 Auburn Montgomery (2) 3-1 302 2 3 Vanguard (1) 4-0 293 3 4 Lindsey Wilson 0-0 282 4 5-tie Westmont 3-3 266 7 5-tie William Carey 2-0 266 6 7 Bethany (Kan.) 6-1 247 10 8 Concordia (Calif.) 2-4 238 5 9 Aquinas 3-1 230 9 10 Xavier 3-3 228 8 11 Cumberland 0-0 204 11 12 Belhaven 3-0 197 12 13 Olivet Nazarene 2-0 182 13 14 Campbellsville 0-1 169 14 15 Lewis-Clark State 2-1 164 NR 16 Warner 0-1 161 15 17 McPherson 6-1 159 17 18 Graceland 2-1 155 16 19 Pikeville 0-0 127 18 20 Webber International 0-2 119 20 21 Oklahoma Baptist 1-2 108 NR 22 Northwestern Ohio 5-2 102 19 23 Georgetown (Ky.) 2-2 96 22 24-tie Coastal Georgia 2-2 83 23 24-tie Spring Arbor 10-2 83 21 Others receiving votes: Northwood (Fla.) 45, Biola 39, Indiana Wesleyan 34, Missouri Valley 25, Lee (Tenn.) 24, Davenport 23, Asbury 14, Martin Methodist 12, Bethel (Tenn.) 6, Our Lady of the Lake 6.

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