No. 8 Rush make 15th consecutive top-10 appearance

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana climbed two places Tuesday to eighth in the NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll. It's the 15th consecutive top-10 appearance for the Gold Rush, a streak which began in May 2011.

Xavier (7-5) won 3-of-4 dual matches since the March 5 poll, including victories against top-25 members Coastal Georgia and Cumberland in the AUM Invitational at Montgomery, Ala. The loss was 5-4 at Auburn Montgomery, this week's No. 1 team. Xavier won 4-of-7 matches on the court against AUM but forfeited matches at No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles because of only five available players.

No. 8 is a familiar spot for the XU men, who have been ranked there in 10 of the last 19 polls. This the 45th consecutive Gold Rush appearance in the top 25.

Both XU teams will play at the University of New Orleans at 3 p.m. Wednesday, then play three duals in Florida next week during spring break. For the Gold Rush, that will include matchups with No. 2 Embry-Riddle and No. 15 Northwood. Xavier also will play Webber International, which received votes Tuesday and was 20th in the first two polls this season. Auburn Montgomery will visit Xavier on April 6.

NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through Sunday, March 17) Rank Team Record Points Last 1 Auburn Montgomery (5) 10-3 335 2 2 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (5) 10-2 333 1 3 Vanguard (3) 14-0 328 3 4 Lindsey Wilson 3-2 307 4 5 Westmont 7-7 295 5 6 William Carey 4-1 288 6 7 Bethany (Kan.) 10-1 279 7 8 Xavier 7-5 263 10 9 Concordia (Calif.) 5-7 256 8 10 Bethel (Tenn.) 13-0 241 24 11 Cumberland 5-1 234 11 12 Lewis-Clark State 5-1 216 13 13 Aquinas 9-4 215 9 14 Belhaven 5-2 211 12 15 Northwood (Fla.) 6-1 179 18 16 Oklahoma Baptist 6-4 178 16 17 Campbellsville 3-4 169 15 18 Olivet Nazarene 3-7 162 14 19 McPherson 11-2 139 19 20 Pikeville 1-2 131 20 21 Coastal Georgia 6-3 126 22 22 Northwestern Ohio 7-2 109 21 23 Spring Arbor 15-3 90 25 24 St. Thomas (Fla.) 4-5 79 RV 25 Martin Methodist 3-6 77 NR Others receiving votes: Davenport 64, Graceland 58, Webber International 49, Indiana Wesleyan 47, Our Lady of the Lake 16, Asbury 11, Hope International 8, Georgetown (Ky.) 6, Missouri Valley 4, Warner 3.

By Ed Cassiere, SID
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA