Rush fall to 9th but in top 10 for 23rd consecutive poll

NEW ORLEANS -- Xavier University of Louisiana has yet to gain any ground in this season's NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 polls -- the Gold Rush dropped from eighth to ninth Tuesday -- but will have a chance later this week to improve its standing.

The Gold Rush (2-5) will be one of seven ranked teams in the AUM Invitational, which will begin Friday in Montgomery, Ala. Also competing will be No. 2 Auburn Montgomery, No. 7 Cumberland, No. 8 Belhaven, No. 20 Pikeville, No. 24 Campbellsville and No. 25 Coastal Georgia. The only unranked men's team at AUM will be Martin Methodist.

Xavier will play Coastal Georgia at 9 a.m. Friday at Lagoon Park Tennis Center. It will be fifth consecutive Gold Rush dual against a ranked opponent. Most recently, Xavier lost 6-3 Friday at West Florida, No. 3 in NCAA Division II.

The Gold Rush are in the top 10 for the 23rd consecutive poll and the 26th time in the last 27 polls. The XU men's top-25 streak, which began on April 4, 2007, is 53 polls.

Defending national champion Embry-Riddle (Fla.) is a unanimous No. 1 for the third time in as many polls this season.

The next rankings will be announced March 18.

The top 25:

1. Embry-Riddle (Fla.)
2. Auburn Montgomery
3. Vanguard
4. Georgia Gwinnett
5. Westmont
6. Lindsey Wilson
7. Cumberland
8. Belhaven
9. Xavier
10. Aquinas
11. Concordia (Calif.)
12. William Carey
13. Graceland
14. Bethel (Tenn.)
15. Bethany
16. Northwestern Ohio
17. Warner
18. Lewis-Clark State
19. Northwood (Fla.)
20. Pikeville
21. Davenport
22. Oklahoma Baptist
23. Olivet Nazarene
24. Campbellsville
25. Coastal Georgia

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