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| COACH ALAN GREEN |
The XU men are familiar with the top 10. They're 10th for the second consecutive poll, and this is their 14th consecutive appearance in the top 10. But it's been a long climb back to the top 10 for the XU women, whose only previous appearance was No. 9 on March 7, 2007. The Gold Nuggets are 10th in the new poll, up one place from the previous poll on Feb. 19.
This is the 44th consecutive top-25 appearance for the Gold Rush, which equals the Gold Nuggets' poll streak from 2004-11. The XU men are in the top 20 for the 35th consecutive time, the top 15 for the 20th consecutive time and the top 10 for the 17th time in 18 polls. For the Gold Nuggets, this is their sixth consecutive top-25 appearance and their 51st appearance in the last 61 polls.
Both XU teams will compete Friday in the AUM Invitational at Montgomery, Ala. The women will play NAIA No. 22 Cumberland at 9 a.m. at the AUM Tennis Complex, and the men will play 22nd-ranked Coastal Georgia at 1 p.m. at Lagoon Park Tennis Center. XU coach Alan Green announced Tuesday that the men of NAIA No. 4 Lindsey Wilson have dropped the Gold Rush from its schedule — they were to meet March 13 in Hattiesburg, Miss.
Several other ranked NAIA teams will compete in the AUM Invitational — Auburn Montgomery (women No. 2, men No. 2), Belhaven, Campbellsville (women No. 13, men No. 15), Cumberland (men No. 11) and the men of Graceland, ranked 17th and coached by XU graduate and former player Monroe Walker.
William Carey, which defeated AUM 5-4 this past week, collected 10-of-12 first-place votes and replaced AUM as the No. 1 women's team. Embry-Riddle (Fla.), despite receiving a season-low 7-of-12 first-place votes, is No. 1 for the third time in as many men's polls this year.
| NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through Sunday, March 3)
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| NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through Sunday, March 3)
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Familiar situation: Rush, Nuggets headed to nationals
NEW ORLEANS -- The basketball teams of Xavier University of Louisiana will play again. Based on their high rankings in Wednesday's coaches polls, both the Gold Nuggets and Gold Rush received at-large bids to next week's NAIA Division I National Championships.
The Gold Nuggets (24-5) fell from 10th to 12th in the women's poll. The Gold Rush (24-7) fell from 13th to a tie for 16th in the men's poll. The XU women received one of 14 at-large bids, and the XU men received one of 17 at-large bids.
The NAIA will announce first-round pairings and times early Wednesday evening. Both tournaments -- the men in Kansas City, Mo., the women in Frankfort, Ky. -- will begin Wednesday, March 13. Thirty-two teams qualified for each site.
Xavier's women qualified for nationals for the fourth consecutive year and the 17th time overall. All of the Gold Nuggets' appearances have occurred in the last 19 seasons. The Gold Nuggets reached the second round seven times, including 2011 and 2012, but never have advanced to the quarterfinals.
Xavier's men qualified for nationals for the third consecutive year, the seventh time in nine seasons and the 14th time overall. The deepest advance of the Gold Rush was the quarterfinals in 1973; the most recent first-round victory was in 2007.
Both XU teams won Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season championships this year -- the men shared theirs with Philander Smith -- but both were upset in the quarterfinals of the GCAC Tournament at Little Rock, Ark., last week.
Also qualifying for nationals from the GCAC were the tournament champions, SUNO's women and Philander Smith's men. Philander Smith is ranked 22nd.
By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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