XU Gold Rush climb to school-record No. 3 national rank

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana set another rankings record for its men's tennis program when it moved from fourth to third Tuesday in the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll.
    
It's the second time in three polls this season that the Gold Rush ranking is the best in school history. Xavier was fourth in the preseason Jan. 26 — its pre-2016 high had been fifth — and again in the first regular-season rankings Feb. 16.
    
Xavier is in the top 10 for the 41st consecutive time and in the top 25 for the 71st consecutive time. Xavier began its top-10 streak May 3, 2011, and its top-25 streak April 4, 2007.
    
Two-time defending champion Georgia Gwinnett was a unanimous No. 1 for the third time this season. Preseason No. 2 Auburn Montgomery returned to that spot after ranking fifth two weeks ago, and previous No. 3 Lindsey Wilson fell to sixth.
    
Climbing from sixth to fourth was Northwestern Ohio, which will visit Xavier at 2 p.m. March 29.
    
The next rankings will be announced March 15.
    
Next for the Gold Rush will be a trip to Hattiesburg, Miss., to play 10th-ranked William Carey at noon Friday, then a home dual at 11 a.m. Sunday against William Woods at XU Tennis Center. Xavier defeated William Carey 8-1 at XU Feb. 6.
    
SCHEDULE NOTES:  XU coach Alan Green said the Friday dual against William Carey was moved up three hours and to the Crusaders' campus courts . . . Added were road duals March 22 at St. Thomas (Fla.) and March 23 at Keiser. Both will start at 2 p.m. EDT.

NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through Feb. 28) Rank Team Record Points Last 1 Georgia Gwinnett (12) 7-0 312 1 2 Auburn Montgomery 5-2 296 5 3 Xavier 5-3 294 4 4 Northwestern Ohio 6-1 275 6 5 Coastal Georgia 5-1 262 9 6 Lindsey Wilson 2-2 255 3 7 Keiser 3-1 253 11 8 Dalton State 6-4 250 2 9 Westmont 4-2 232 15 10 William Carey 3-4 225 8 11 McPherson 1-1 212 10 12 San Diego Christian 4-1 206 7 13 Reinhardt 2-0 197 12 14 Bethany (Kan.) 3-0 183 13 15 Campbellsville 0-0 172 14 16 Cardinal Stritch 1-5 147 17 17 Graceland 2-4 138 16 18 Olivet Nazarene 1-3 134 18 19 Aquinas 7-3 128 22 20 Lewis-Clark State 5-5 120 19 21 Warner 4-0 102 RV 22 Asbury 0-0 99 20 23 Cumberland 1-2 93 21 24 Middle Georgia 5-4 79 RV 25 Marian (Ind.) 11-1 75 24 Dropped from rankings:  No. 23 Southeastern (Fla.), No. 25 Tennessee Wesleyan      Others receiving votes:  Tennessee Wesleyan 67, Southeastern (Fla.) 61, Pikeville 26, Goshen 19, Mobile 14, Missouri Valley 12, Indiana Wesleyan 7, Baker 3, Martin Methodist 3 Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director XULAgold.com XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA  twitter.com/xulagold www.facebook.com/xulagold