XULA Gold Rush No. 2 nationally for 11th straight time

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana, the NAIA men's tennis national runner-up in 2016 and 2017, held the No. 2 position again Tuesday when the 2018 preseason coaches poll was announced.

It's the 11th consecutive appearance at No. 2 for the Gold Rush. The XULA men first ascended to that level in the 2016 postseason rankings. In preseason polls, this is the seventh consecutive year that the Gold Rush are in the top 10 and the third consecutive year in the top four.

XULA's top-25 appearance is its 87th in a row dating to April 4, 2007. It is the longest active streak in NAIA men's tennis. No. 13 Westmont is second on the list with 73 consecutive appearances.

Four-time defending national champion Georgia Gwinnett is a unanimous No. 1 for the 29th consecutive time. The Grizzlies — unbeaten each of the past two seasons and a 5-0 winner against XULA in the 2017 NAIA championship round — begin 2018 with a 57-dual win streak.

XULA played its first dual match of 2018 on Saturday and lost 6-1 at NCAA Division I South Alabama. Next for the Gold Rush will be dual matches this weekend — Saturday at NCAA DI Louisiana-Lafayette at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., then noon Sunday against city rival Loyola at XULA Tennis Center.

The Gold Rush active poll streaks:
• 87 consecutive appearances in the top 25 . . . streak began April 4, 2007.
• 78 consecutive appearances in the top 20 . . . streak began April 30, 2008.
• 63 consecutive appearances in the top 15 . . . streak began Feb. 1, 2011.
• 57 consecutive appearances in the top 10 . . . streak began May 3, 2011.
• 19 consecutive appearances in the top 5 . . . streak began Jan. 26, 2016.
• 17 consecutive appearances in the top 3 . . . streak began March 1, 2016.
• 11 consecutive appearances in the top 2 . . . streak began May 25, 2016.

NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses — records from previous season)
RANK PREVIOUS SCHOOL RECORD POINTS
1 1 Georgia Gwinnett [12] 24-0 312
2 2 Xavier (La.) 14-6 301
3 3 Keiser (Fla.) 19-4 293
4 4 Campbellsville (Ky.) 25-6 281
5 5 Northwestern Ohio 22-2 272
6 6 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 17-7 262
7 7 William Carey (Miss.) 18-6 247
8 8 William Woods (Mo.) 15-5 245
9 9 Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) 19-6 230
10 10 Arizona Christian 15-13 223
11 11 Mobile (Ala.) 23-4 212
12 13 San Diego Christian (Calif.) 7-11 200
13 12 Westmont (Calif.) 14-8 186
13 14 Middle Georgia State 10-9 186
15 18 Coastal Georgia 14-8 164
16 16 Reinhardt (Ga.) 13-5 161
17 17 Asbury (Ky.) 18-2 156
18 15 SCAD Savannah (Ga.) 9-9 138
19 19 Tennessee Wesleyan 12-5 129
20 20 McPherson (Kan.) 11-4 114
21 21 Lawrence Tech (Mich.) 20-7 111
22 24 Cumberland (Tenn.) 7-6 106
23 22 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 12-7 87
24 23 Aquinas (Mich.) 17-7 72

25 25 SCAD Atlanta (Ga.) 11-4 68
Others receiving votes: Indiana Wesleyan 52, Cumberlands (Ky.) 35, Missouri Valley 32, St. Thomas (Fla.) 32, Point (Ga.) 19, Marian (Ind.) 19, Warner (Fla.) 16, Ottawa (Kan.) 12, Loyola (La.) 8, Cornerstone (Mich.) 4, Hastings (Neb.) 3

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
twitter.com/xulagold
www.facebook.com/xulagold