No. 3 Nuggets match highest-ever preseason ranking

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana matched its highest-ever preseason ranking, third, when the NAIA announced its women's tennis coaches top 25 Tuesday.
     
The Gold Nuggets also were preseason No. 3 in 2014 and 2015. They were 10th a year ago in the preseason and finished the season at No. 3.
     
XULA is one of the NAIA's top programs. Coach Alan Green's Gold Nuggets will try to qualify for the national tournament for the eighth consecutive year, the 11th time in 12 years and the 13th time overall. Their semifinal appearance at nationals last season was their fourth in the last six seasons.
     
Three-time defending NAIA national champion Georgia Gwinnett received all 14 first-place votes.
     
There will be seven more polls this season, with the next on Feb. 12. From that date rankings will be updated every two weeks through April 23.
     
XULA is one of seven NAIA schools with women's and men's teams earning top-10 preseason rankings. The others are Cardinal Stritch, Georgia Gwinnett, Keiser, Lindsey Wilson, William Carey and William Woods. XULA's men, the Gold Rush, are ranked third.
     
The Gold Nuggets' active poll streaks:
     •  58 consecutive appearances in the top 25 . . . streak began May 1, 2012.
     •  58 consecutive appearances in the top 20 . . . streak began May 1, 2012.
     •  17 consecutive appearances in the top 15 . . . streak began Feb. 28, 2017.
     •  8 consecutive appearances in the top 10 . . . streak began Feb. 27, 2018.
     •  7 consecutive appearances in the top 5 . . . streak began March 13, 2018.
     •  5th consecutive appearance in the top 4 . . . streak began April 10, 2018.
     •  4th consecutive appearance in the top 3 . . . streak began April 24, 2018.
 

NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Preseason Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records from previous season)

RANK	PREVIOUS	SCHOOL	RECORD	POINTS
1	1	Georgia Gwinnett (14)	18-2	374
2	2	Keiser (Fla.)	23-3	362
3	3	Xavier (La.)	19-8	350
4	4	Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)	14-3	330
5	5	Brenau (Ga.)	16-8	325
6	6	William Woods (Mo.)	18-7	321
7	7	Cardinal Stritch (Wis.)	15-7	300
8	8	LSU-Alexandria (La.)	12-5	287
9	9	William Carey (Miss.)	11-6	275
10	11	Indiana Wesleyan	16-0	264
11	11	SCAD Savannah (Ga.)	13-5	258
12	13	Middle Georgia	12-7	233
13	13	San Diego Christian (Calif.)	12-7	225
14	15	Westmont (Calif.)	10-12	199
15	18	Cumberlands (Ky.)	10-11	197
16	16	SCAD Atlanta (Ga.)	12-7	193
17	10	Northwestern Ohio	15-6	180
18	17	Union (Ky.)	15-6	176
19	20	Cumberland (Tenn.)	13-11	159
20	19	Arizona Christian	10-12	155
21	24	Loyola (La.)	12-7	144
22	22	Campbellsville (Ky.)	14-9	130
23	21	Mobile (Ala.)	11-7	107
24	23	Reinhardt (Ga.)	12-7	92
25	25	Marian (Ind.)	10-3	86

Others Receiving Votes: Georgetown (Ky.) 71, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 52, Southwestern (Kan.) 36, St. Thomas (Fla.) 30, Asbury (Ky.) 20, Missouri Valley 18, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 11, Midland (Neb.) 8, Lawrence Tech (Mich.) 5, Huntington (Ind.) 3

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletics Director for Communications
Department of Athletics & Recreation
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
XULAgold.com
twitter.com/xulagold
www.facebook.com/xulagold