Nuggets in final top 10 for 4th time in last 5 seasons

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana fell three places Wednesday to No. 10 in the NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Postseason Top 25 poll, but the Gold Nuggets can boast of their fourth top-10 appearance in the last five postseason polls.
     
The Gold Nuggets began the season 19th, and on March 14 they made their first of six consecutive top-10 appearances. A No. 7 ranking May 7 was their highest of the season.
     
The Gold Nuggets lost 5-4 to Indiana Wesleyan one week ago in the round of 16 at the NAIA National Championships in Mobile, Ala. IWU replaced XULA at No. 7.
     
XULA is in the top 25 for the 48th consecutive time. That streak began May 1, 2012. Dating to Feb. 25, 2004, the Gold Nuggets appeared in 93 of the last 103 polls. (The 2005-06 season, when XULA did not compete intercollegiately, is not included.)
     
Georgia Gwinnett, which repeated as national champion, is a unanimous No. 1 for the 10th consecutive poll.

NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Postseason Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through May 20) Rank Team Record Points Last 1 Georgia Gwinnett (14) 26-0 374 1 2 Lindsey Wilson 22-5 362 2 3 William Woods 14-10 346 12 4 SCAD Savannah 16-4 337 3 5 Keiser 15-8 331 4 6 William Carey 18-4 312 6 7 Indiana Wesleyan 37-9 294 10 8 San Diego Christian 15-4 287 5 9 LSU-Alexandria 19-4 285 9 10 XULA 7-14 270 7 11 Northwestern Ohio 19-7 257 8 12 Cardinal Stritch 16-6 237 13 13 Mobile 23-5 229 11 14 Cumberlands 16-9 215 15 15 SCAD Atlanta 13-7 211 20 16 Arizona Christian 17-9 194 14 17 Lewis-Clark State 8-14 175 16 18 Davenport 14-11 160 18 19 Olivet Nazarene 10-12 156 19 20 Middle Georgia 13-8 140 17 21 Campbellsville 12-12 139 21 22 Georgetown (Ky.) 16-8 125 23 23 McPherson 9-3 124 22 24 Tennessee Wesleyan 12-7 78 25 25 St. Thomas (Fla.) 4-10 74 24 Dropped from rankings:  none Others receiving votes:  Reinhardt 48, Coastal Georgia 37, Cumberland 36, Marian (Ind.) 35, Asbury 35, Hastings 25, Missouri Valley 17, Southwestern (Kan.) 17, Brenau 13, Southeastern (Fla.) 6 Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director XULAgold.com XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA  twitter.com/xulagold www.facebook.com/xulagold