Poll climb: Nuggets collect 1st-ever national votes

NEW ORLEANS — Ten days after earning its first-ever victory against a ranked opponent, Xavier University of Louisiana volleyball produced another first Tuesday: points in the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll.
     
The Gold Nuggets (6-2) received four points from a panel of 19 coaches and ranked 38th among the 39 teams receiving votes. XULA is the first Gulf Coast Athletic Conference team to receive votes since former member Mobile in November 2009.
     
"It's a boost for our program that we are becoming nationally recognized," second-year XULA head coach Pat Kendrick said.
     
XULA defeated then-No. 22 Indiana Wesleyan in four sets Aug. 25 at the Mid-South Crossover Challenge in Bowling Green, Ky. This is the 11th season of XULA volleyball. Prior to the Indiana Wesleyan match, the Gold Nuggets were 0-14 against top-25 teams.
    
The next rankings will be announced Sept. 19.

XULA's Tuesday home match against Tougaloo was postponed until Oct. 15 due to the approach of Tropical Storm Gordon. Weather permitting, the Gold Nuggets' next competition will be Friday and Saturday in Alabama at the University of Mobile Invitational — four matches in all.
    

NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through Sept. 2) Rank Previous School Record Points 1 5 Park (Mo.) (17) 5-0 528 2 9 Grand View (Iowa) (1) 7-0 508 3 14 Columbia (Mo.) 5-1 487 4 1 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) (1) 8-2 486 5 4 Viterbo (Wis.) 8-3 440 6 RV Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 11-1 439 7 6 Westmont (Calif.) 8-1 422 8 11 Midland (Neb.) 8-2 418 9 3 Missouri Baptist 11-2 395 10 13 Southern Oregon 10-0 385 11 10 Hastings (Neb.) 4-0 366 12 2 Dordt (Iowa) 5-1 338 13 RV Vanguard (Calif.) 11-1 306 14 7 College of Idaho 6-4 296 15 NR Providence (Mont.) 7-1 289 16 7 Northwestern (Iowa) 7-3 254 17 RV Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 10-1 238 18 17 Georgetown (Ky.) 6-1 205 19 NR Saint Francis (Ind.) 11-2 195 19 20 Madonna (Mich.) 5-0 195 21 15 Eastern Oregon 6-4 183 22 18 Doane (Neb.) 6-2 153 23 12 Montana Tech 6-5 129 24 21 Bellevue (Neb.) 5-3 125 25 NR The Master's (Calif.) 10-3 111 Dropped from the rankings: No. 16 Cornerstone (Mich.), No. 19 Corban (Ore.), No. 22 Indiana Wesleyan, No. 23 Ottawa (Kan.),No. 24 Northwest (Wash.), No. 25 Jamestown (N.D.)  Others receiving votes: Corban 102, SAGU (Texas) 95, Aquinas (Mich.) 73, Central Methodist (Mo.) 65, Jamestown (N.D.) 52, McPherson (Kan.) 51, Saint Xavier (Ill.) 27, Reinhardt (Ga.) 23, Campbellsville (Ky.) 23, Lourdes (Ohio) 22, William Woods (Mo.) 8, Ottawa (Kan.) 7, Xavier (La.) 4, Trinity Christian (Ill.) 3 Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications XULAgold.com XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA  twitter.com/xulagold www.facebook.com/xulagold