NEW ORLEANS — The tennis teams of Xavier University of Louisiana are the defending champions and seeded first in an NAIA unaffiliated group qualifying tournament.
It will be the second consecutive year that the Gold Rush and Gold Nuggets travel to an Atlanta suburb for this tournament. The dual-match event — to be played at Clayton County Tennis Center in Jonesboro, Ga., on Friday and Saturday — is for schools from the Gulf Coast Athletic and Appalachian Athletic conferences, which do not field sufficient teams to compete for automatic berths to next month's NAIA National Championships. The men's and women's champions of the unaffiliated group tournament will receive automatic berths to nationals.
The Gold Rush are 12-7, and the Gold Nuggets are 14-7. Both are ranked in the top 10 of the NAIA.
Xavier's men have a bye in the quarterfinals and will play fourth-seeded SCAD Atlanta or fifth-seeded Reinhardt in the semifinals no sooner than 2 p.m. EDT Friday. Xavier's women will play no sooner than 11:30 a.m. EDT Friday against Fisk in the quarterfinals. If the Nuggets advance, they'll play Columbia (S.C.) or Tennessee Wesleyan in the semifinals no sooner than 4:30 p.m. Friday. The championship duals will be played Saturday.
The XU men seek their eighth consecutive championship of an unaffiliated group or conference tournament. The XU women are seeking their ninth title in 11 seasons.
| NAIA Unaffiliated Group Tournament MEN Clayton County Tennis Center, Jonesboro, Ga. . . . all times Eastern Quarterfinals — Friday, April 19 #1 Xavier has a bye #4 SCAD Atlanta vs. #5 Reinhardt, 9 a.m. #3 Tennessee Wesleyan vs. #6 Tougaloo, 9 a.m. #2 Milligan vs. #7 Fisk, 9 a.m. Semifinals — Friday, April 19 Xavier vs. SCAD Atlanta-Reinhardt winner, not before 2 p.m. Milligan-Fisk winner vs. Tennessee Wesleyan-Tougaloo winner, not before 2 p.m. Championship — Saturday, April 20 Semifinal winners meet at 10 a.m. |
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By Ed Cassiere, SID
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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