NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's tennis teams held their positions Monday in the NAIA coaches polls, and both received at-large bids to next week's NAIA National Championships.
The Gold Nuggets (15-9) are ranked fifth, and the Gold Rush (12-7) are No. 6. Both received the first of nine at-large bids.
Twenty-four women's teams and 24 men's teams qualified for the national tournament, which will begin May 12 at Copeland-Cox Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Ala. The NAIA will announce seedings and pairings by 5 p.m. CDT Tuesday.
Xavier's women qualified for nationals for the fourth consecutive year and the ninth time overall in the last 11 seasons. The XU men qualified for the seventh consecutive year after never reaching nationals before 2009.
"We're happy about earning bids to play in the national tournament again," said Alan Green, in his 12th season as coach of Xavier's women and men. "We're worked hard all year to get to this point, and now it's time to go into the final tournament of the year and look to make a good showing. We just want to compete as hard as we can and see where it leads us."
The Gold Nuggets reached the national semifinals in 2013 and 2014 — the best finish by an XU team in any sport at an NAIA national tournament — and the Gold Rush reached the quarterfinals in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
Both XU teams have lengthy current streaks in the NAIA's top 10: 37 straight for the men, 24 straight for the women. Both also are among the NAIA leaders in active streaks of appearances at the national tournament. The Nuggets are one of nine women's programs making a fourth consecutive appearance, and the Rush are one of eight men's programs making a seventh consecutive appearance.
NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through May 2)
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NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through May 2)
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Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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