Great run at nationals earns Rush No. 2 in final poll

NEW ORLEANS — After a sensational week at the NAIA National Championship tournament, Xavier University of Louisiana men's tennis is No. 2 in the postseason coaches poll.
     
It's the 10th straight year that XULA is in the final top 10. It's XULA's 103rd consecutive appearance in the top 25 — the longest active streak in NAIA men's tennis.
     
The Gold Rush (17-9) were national runner-up for the third time in four years and a semifinalist for the fourth consecutive season. XULA climbed five spots from its April 23 ranking and made the biggest jump in the last 20 seasons by an NAIA men's team into the final top four.
     
XULA won 3-of-4 dual matches at nationals. The Gold Rush had a first-round bye, then defeated three top-10 teams — Union (Ky.), Reinhardt and Cardinal Stritch — to reach the championship round, where Georgia Gwinnett defeated the Rush and won its sixth consecutive national title.
     
The Gold Rush were the lowest seeded team (seventh) ever to reach an NAIA men's final and the first NAIA men's team to beat the No. 2 (Reinhardt) and 3 (Cardinal Stritch) seeds in the same tournament.
     
It's the second consecutive year and the second time overall that both XULA tennis teams finished in the national top three. The XULA women are No. 3.
     
The Gold Rush active poll streaks:
     •  103 consecutive appearances in the top 25 . . . streak began April 4, 2007.
     •  94 consecutive appearances in the top 20 . . . streak began April 30, 2008.
     •  79 consecutive appearances in the top 15 . . . streak began Feb. 1, 2011.
     •  73 consecutive appearances in the top 10 . . . streak began May 3, 2011.
 

NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through end of season)

RANK	PREVIOUS	SCHOOL	RECORD	POINTS
1	1	Georgia Gwinnett (14)	27-0	374
2	7	Xavier (La.)	17-9	362
3	3	Cardinal Stritch (Wis.)	16-5	346
4	8	William Carey (Miss.)	15-4	340
5	2	Reinhardt (Ga.)	17-3	320
6	4	Middle Georgia	14-4	306
7	6	Keiser (Fla.)	17-7	305
8	5	Point (Ga.)	16-7	302
9	10	William Woods (Mo.)	22-3	276
10	9	Union (Ky.)	14-9	268
11	11	Tennessee Wesleyan	12-7	249
12	12	Arizona Christian	19-2	237
13	13	Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)	11-7	236
14	15	Mobile (Ala.)	14-6	222
15	14	Cumberlands (Ky.)	12-7	203
16	16	Cumberland (Tenn.)	13-7	189
17	24	Northwestern Ohio	14-12	171
18	18	Campbellsville (Ky.)	19-9	164
19	20	Coastal Georgia	12-6	151
20	17	Hope International (Calif.)	16-6	146
21	19	Marian (Ind.)	20-10	144
22	20	Indiana Wesleyan	23-10	114
23	25	Missouri Valley	15-7	98
24	23	Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)	9-11	95
25	RV	McPherson (Kan.)	11-7	92

Dropped from the Top 25: Southwestern (Kan.)
Others Receiving Votes: Asbury (Ky.) 78, Texas A&M-Texarkana 59, Judson (Ill.) 44, Westmont (Calif.) 37, Midland (Neb.) 23, Southeastern (Fla.) 15, Ottawa (Kan.) 6, Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) 5, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 4, Webber International (Fla.) 4

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletics Director for Communications
Department of Athletics & Recreation
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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