Xavier on Tuesday was awarded the No. 1 seed for the 2013 NAIA Women's Tennis National Championship at Mobile, Ala. The Gold Nuggets (17-7), No. 1 in the past three coaches polls after ranking 13th in the preseason, were one of eight teams to draw a first-round bye in the 24-team, single-elimination event. Xavier will play in the second round at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, May 15 against Indiana Wesleyan or Coastal Georgia. The Wildcats and Mariners will meet in the first round on May 14.
Copeland-Cox Tennis Center will be the site of all matches. All women's duals are scheduled for 1 p.m.
The appearance at nationals is the Nuggets' second in a row and their seventh overall — all in the past nine seasons. But this will be the first time that the XU women have a first-round bye. The Nuggets are 5-1 in the first round at nationals and 0-5 in the second round.
A victory would make this the first XU women's team in any sport to reach the NAIA quarterfinals. The Nuggets will need four victories to win Xavier's first NAIA national team championship. The championship round is scheduled for Saturday, May 18.
Junior Kourtney Howell, freshman Brion Flowers and sophomore Amanda Materre are Xavier's top three players. Howell was sixth, Flowers 31st and Materre 37th in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association NAIA singles rankings, and Howell and Flowers were the No. 1 doubles team. Alan Green is in his 10th season as coach of XU's women's and men's teams.
The Gold Nuggets will enter the tournament with a nine-dual win streak, and they're 10-0 this season against ranked NAIA opponents. They defeated fifth-seeded William Carey and second-seeded Auburn Montgomery on consecutive days in early April. Auburn Montgomery is the two-time defending NAIA champion and winner of eight of the last nine titles and 10 of the last 13.
Xavier defeated Coastal Georgia 8-1 in the AUM Invitational on March 9. Xavier and Indiana Wesleyan have not met since the Nuggets won 6-3 in the opening round at nationals in 2010. In the coaches poll announced Monday, Coastal Georgia was ranked 16th, and Indiana Wesleyan was 17th.
Tournament bracket (PDF)
Xavier Women's Tennis at the
NAIA National Championship (5-6)
| Date (Day) | Round | Opponent | W/L | Score |
| May 17, 2004 (Mon.) | 1st | Lee (Tenn.) | W | 8-1 |
| May 18, 2004 (Tue.) | 2nd | Auburn Montgomery | L | 0-5 |
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| May 16, 2005 (Mon.) | 1st | Indiana Southeast | W | 9-0 |
| May 17, 2005 (Tue.) | 2nd | Brenau | L | 0-5 |
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| May 12, 2008 (Mon.) | 1st | McKendree | W | 7-2 |
| May 13, 2008 (Tue.) | 2nd | Vanguard | L | 1-5 |
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| May 12, 2009 (Tue.) | 1st | Union (Ky.) | W | 8-1 |
| May 13, 2009 (Wed.) | 2nd | Berry | L | 3-5 |
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| May 18, 2010 (Tue.) | 1st | Indiana Wesleyan | W | 6-3 |
| May 19, 2010 (Wed.) | 2nd | Auburn Montgomery | L | 0-5 |
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| May 15, 2012 (Tue.) | 1st | Vanguard | L | 3-6 |
By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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