Nuggets remain No. 5, but there's a change at the top

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana, 2-0 since the previous NAIA women's tennis coaches poll, maintained its No. 5 position Tuesday in the fifth national ranking of the season. But there was a significant shift at the top.
     
Keiser earned its first-ever No. 1 ranking as a result of its 5-4 Saturday victory at the previous No. 1, Georgia Gwinnett. The Grizzlies had been atop the last 16 polls, the last 14 as a unanimous No. 1.
     
Keiser received 12-of-14 first-place votes. Georgia Gwinnett, now No. 2, and No. 3 Lindsey Wilson received one first-place vote apiece.
     
The Gold Nuggets (11-7) improved their win streak to eight, their longest since 2013, with a 7-2 Saturday home victory against LSU-Alexandria, which remained 11th. The XULA women have eight victories this season against top-20 NAIA opponents.
     
XULA is idle this week. The Gold Nuggets will begin a three-dual home stand April 6 — one week from Friday — at 3 p.m. against NCAA Division I Southern.
 

NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through March 25)

RANK	PREVIOUS	SCHOOL		RECORD	POINTS
1	3	Keiser (Fla.) [12]		17-1	373
2	1	Georgia Gwinnett [1]		11-2	361
3	2	Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) [1]		2-1	348
4	4	SCAD Savannah (Ga.)		9-2	336
5	5	Xavier (La.)		11-7	331
6	6	William Carey (Miss.)		6-1	314
7	8	William Woods (Mo.)		7-3	291
8	7	Northwestern Ohio		4-3	290
9	9	Indiana Wesleyan		23-2	276
10	10	Cardinal Stritch (Wis.)		5-5	275
11	11	LSU-Alexandria (La.)		6-3	251
12	12	San Diego Christian (Calif.)		6-5	247
13	13	Middle Georgia State		9-4	229
14	16	Brenau (Ga.)		7-6	220
15	15	Westmont (Calif.)		7-5	202
16	14	SCAD Atlanta (Ga.)		6-4	192
17	18	Arizona Christian		9-8	182
18	17	Campbellsville (Ky.)		9-1	178
19	20	Cumberland (Tenn.)		6-7	155
20	19	Martin Methodist (Tenn.)		3-7	148
21	22	Union (Ky.)		7-3	132
22	21	Mobile (Ala.)		8-5	129
23	23	St. Thomas (Fla.)		5-6	106
24	24	Reinhardt (Ga.)		7-5	100
25	25	Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)		5-4	74

Others Receiving Votes: Georgetown (Ky.) 57; Huntington (Ind.) 48; Marian (Ind.) 28; Southwestern (Kan.) 24; Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 21; Tennessee Wesleyan 15; Loyola (La.) 13; Cumberlands (Ky.) 13; Coastal Georgia 12; Asbury (Ky.) 9

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