NAIA runner-up Rush climb to No. 2 in postseason poll

NEW ORLEANS — Three days after recording the highest-ever finish by a Xavier University of Louisiana team in an NAIA national tournament, the men's tennis team earned a program-record No. 2 ranking Tuesday in the postseason coaches poll.

The Gold Rush (17-8) won three times this past week in the NAIA National Championship at Mobile, Ala., before losing 5-2 to unbeaten Georgia Gwinnett, which won a third consecutive national title.

Xavier was No. 4 in the preseason, climbed to third in the season's third poll March 1 and remained there through May 9 in the final poll before nationals. The top-25 appearance is Xavier's 77th in a row — the streak began April 4, 2007 — and it's the Gold Rush's 47th consecutive top-10 ranking.
This is the third time in four years that an XU tennis team ranked among the top three in the postseason. The XU women were No. 3 in the final polls of 2013 and 2014.

Georgia Gwinnett was a unanimous No. 1 for the 19th consecutive poll.

NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Postseason Top 25 Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses — records through end of season)
Rank Team Record Points Last

1 Georgia Gwinnett (9) 26-0 219 1
2 Xavier 17-8 212 3
3 Lindsey Wilson 17-4 202 7
4 Dalton State 19-6 201 5
5-tie Northwestern Ohio 16-4 188 4
5-tie Auburn Montgomery 19-5 188 2
7 Keiser 20-4 178 6
8 Coastal Georgia 13-4 170 8
9 William Carey 13-8 160 9
10 Aquinas 23-8 154 10
11 Lewis-Clark State 12-10 148 12
12 Cardinal Stritch 17-8 147 11
13 Westmont 10-9 133 14
14 Cumberlands 13-8 122 18
15 Warner 16-5 120 20
16 Olivet Nazarene 15-9 118 16
17 McPherson 13-6 102 15
18 Reinhardt 14-4 101 13
19 Mobile 11-8 99 17
20 Bethany (Kan.) 13-4 92 19
21 Middle Georgia 11-9 75 21
22 Pikeville 11-5 74 22
23 Campbellsville 14-11 65 23
24 Tennessee Wesleyan 18-4 55 24
25 IU Southeast 16-12 45 25

Dropped from rankings: none
Others receiving votes: Missouri Baptist 35, Marian (Ind.) 33, Southeastern (Fla.) 22, Asbury 10, Cumberland 6, Our Lady of the Lake 5, Hastings 5, Indiana Tech 3, SCAD Atlanta 3

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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