No. 1! Gold Nuggets make history in NAIA coaches poll

The 2012-13 Xavier University of Louisiana women's tennis team
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NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's women's tennis program made a historic leap to No. 1 in the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll announced shortly after 4 p.m. Tuesday.

This is the first time that a Xavier team in any sport has been ranked No. 1 in the NAIA. Xavier has competed in intercollegiate athletics since the 1930s and has produced NAIA-ranked teams since the early 1970s.

"This validates all the hard work and all the tough scheduling we've done through the years," said 10th-year XU coach Alan Green, whose team has won its last six duals and 10 of its last 12. "This is what I hoped we would get out of it."

The Gold Nuggets (14-7), No. 6 in the poll two weeks ago, received 8-of-13 first-place votes after dual-match victories against then-No. 2 William Carey on April 5 and then-No. 3 Auburn Montgomery the following day. AUM defeated then-No. 1 Brenau on April 9. Xavier is 9-0 this season against ranked NAIA opponents; all the losses were to NCAA Division I teams.

Brenau is second and AUM third in the new poll. Brenau received four first-place votes and AUM one.

"Everyone on the team believes we deserve this. It wasn't given to us," said junior Kourtney Howell,  an NAIA All-American in 2012. "Everyone has a lot of confidence right now. Being No. 1 definitely  makes us want to train harder. I think we'll handle the pressure fine."      The Gold Nuggets were 13th in the preseason poll on Jan. 29 and have climbed in every poll thereafter. This is the Nuggets' fourth consecutive top-10 appearance. The NAIA releases tennis polls every two weeks.      Although six of the previous eight Xavier teams qualified for the NAIA National Championship, the Gold Nuggets had spent just one week in the top 10 before this season. That was a No. 9 ranking in March 2007.      Xavier's next match will be Friday against Fisk in the quarterfinals of an NAIA unaffiliated group qualifying tournament at Jonesboro, Ga. The winner of that tournament will receive an automatic bid to nationals. Challenging the Nuggets from the opposite side of the eight-team bracket will be No. 19 SCAD Atlanta and No. 21 Milligan.      "We've made it to the top of the rankings, but in no way am I satisfied," Green said. "We still have a long way to go. We have a qualifying tournament this week and nationals next month. But I think we now believe we can win the national championship."      Xavier is one of 38 U.S. colleges listed as a "Best Buy School" in the 2013 edition of the Fiske Guide to Colleges. NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through Sunday, April 14) Rank Team Record Points Last 1 Xavier (8) 14-7 334 6 2 Brenau (4) 11-3 332 1 3 Auburn Montgomery (1) 11-8 323 3 4 SCAD Savannah 10-2 316 4 5 William Carey 10-7 297 2 6 Lindsey Wilson 14-2 292 5 7 Lewis-Clark State 7-7 270 10 8 Westmont 17-2 264 7 9 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 9-9 263 8 10 Oklahoma Baptist 11-6 243 11 11 Vanguard 11-15 231 12 12 Northwood (Fla.) 7-6 214 14 13 Concordia (Calif.) 9-11 211 9 14-tie Olivet Nazarene 9-6 189 18 14-tie Coastal Georgia 7-7 189 15 16 Indiana Wesleyan 18-1 185 13 17 Cumberland 12-5 173 16 18 St. Thomas (Fla.) 6-8 166 17 19 SCAD Atlanta 5-1 138 24 20 Campbellsville 9-8 117 19 21 Milligan 17-2 113 RV 22 Marian (Ind.) 16-9 106 21 23 Lee (Tenn.) 4-6 92 20 24 Ashford 13-1 85 RV 25 Southeastern (Fla.) 7-10 84 22 Others receiving votes: Nebraska Wesleyan 71, Belhaven 52, Davenport 48, Georgetown (Ky.) 27, Bethel (Kan.) 21, Northwestern Ohio 16, Robert Morris (Chicago) 13, Hope International 11, Martin Methodist 7, Indiana Southeast 5.

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