XU has 8 student-athletes in ITA's individual rankings

NEW ORLEANS — Eight student-athletes from Xavier University of Louisiana — including top-ranked Nour Abbes and two top-10 doubles teams — are in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's NAIA individual rankings announced Friday.

The rankings are the first of the regular season, with the next one scheduled for April 15.

Abbes held on to her No. 1 women's singles ranking but dropped three places with Carmen Nelson to No. 10 in doubles.

Also in the top 10 is the men's doubles team of Kyle Montrel and Nikita Soifer. At No. 6, Montrel and Soifer are the fourth Gold Rush tandem to reach the national top 10 and the first since Montrel and Loic Didavi in May 2013.

The remainder of Xavier's national rankings are:

• Caroline Vernet, 12th in women's singles in her first semester at Xavier.
• Brion Flowers, 42nd in women's singles.
• Montrel, a career-high-tying 13th in men's singles.
• Soifer, a career-high 16th in men's singles and up 31 places from the preseason.
• Tushar Mandlekar, a career-high 33rd in men's singles and up 15 from the preseason.
• Mandlekar and Manav Chakma, 21st in men's doubles. This is Chakma's first XU semester.

In the South Region women's rankings, Abbes is first and Vernet sixth in singles, and Abbes and Nelson are sixth in doubles. In the men's South rankings, Montrel is seventh, Soifer eighth and Mandlekar 11th in singles. Soifer and Montrel are third in doubles — the Gold Rush's highest regional doubles ranking since 2012 — and Mandlekar and Chakma are seventh.

Abbes is a sophomore from Tunis, Tunisia, and a graduate of Lycée Sportif d'El Menzah. Vernet is a home-schooled freshman from Lyon, France. Flowers is a junior from Lafayette, La., and a graduate of St. Thomas More High school. Nelson is a senior from Jonesboro, Ga., and a graduate of Faith Academy.

Montrel is a junior from Atlanta and a graduate of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy. Soifer is a senior from Beer Sheva, Israel, and a graduate of Hof Hasharon. Mandlekar is a sophomore from Bhilai, India, and a graduate of Deepak Nagar. Chakma is a junior from Agartala, India, and a graduate of Kendriya Vidyalaya Maligaon.

The NAIA will announce new team rankings Tuesday afternoon. The Gold Rush were tied for sixth and the Gold Nuggets seventh in the March 3 coaches polls.

SCHEDULE NOTES: Coach Alan Green announced several changes Monday. The XU men will visit Nicholls State at 10 a.m. Tuesday instead of Sunday. The Gold Nuggets already were scheduled to visit Nicholls at 10 a.m. Tuesday . . . The postponed men's dual against Troy was moved to 3 p.m. Friday at Troy, Ala. The Gold Rush will remain in Troy on Saturday and play at 11 a.m. against Columbus State, ranked sixth in NCAA Division II.