Gold Rush will get a battle with Hastings in first round

NEW ORLEANS -- For the first time in four years, Xavier University of Louisiana's men's tennis team will play in the first round at the NAIA National Championship.

The Gold Rush (11-11), ranked ninth nationally, will play Great Plains Athletic Conference champion Hastings (13-12) at 1 p.m. on May 13 in Mobile, Ala. The NAIA announced Tuesday the top eight seeds and pairings for the five-day, 24-team tournament.

Copeland-Cox Tennis Center (851 Gaillard Drive, zip code 36608, phone 251-208-5181) will be the site of all matches. All men's duals are scheduled for 1 p.m. Mobile is the tournament site for the 11th consecutive year.

Xavier will appear in the tournament for the sixth consecutive year. The Gold Rush received an at-large bid after losing 5-1 at home to third-ranked and unbeaten Georgia Gwinnett in the championship of the NAIA Unaffiliated Group 2 Tournament on April 26.

Hastings is unranked this year and 0-3 in three previous tournament appearances, the most recent in 2012. The Broncos have won six straight and 10 of their last 12 duals since a 3-10 start.

It will be the first-ever meeting between Xavier and Hastings. The Gold Rush and Broncos have no common opponents this season.

The Xavier-Hastings winner will play eight-ranked and eighth-seeded Belhaven (16-4), which has a first-round bye, in the second round on May 14. Xavier defeated the Blazers 5-3 in the 2013 second round at nationals but lost 5-4 at Belhaven on Feb. 15.

Sophomore Kyle Montrel and junior Nikita Soifer are Xavier's best players. Montrel was 16th and Soifer 29th in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association NAIA singles rankings, and Montrel and Soifer are 20th in doubles. Alan Green is in his 11th season as coach of XU's men's and women's teams.

The Rush last year became the first XU team in any sport to reach the national quarterfinals in consecutive seasons. Xavier is 4-5 all-time at nationals, 2-0 in the first round.

This is the fifth time in the last six years that both XU teams qualified for the national tournament. After completing final exams on Wednesday, they will depart for Mobile on Sunday afternoon and will participate in an NAIA Champions of Characater function -- a visit to a local school -- on Monday.

Bracket

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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