NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana
men's tennis rolls on in a new year, earning its 66th consecutive top-10 ranking
in Tuesday's NAIA preseason coaches poll.
Coach
Alan Green's Gold Rush — the NAIA national runner-up in
2016 and 2017 and a semifinalist in 2018 — are No. 3. It's the fourth
straight year that the XULA men are in the preseason top four and the eighth straight time
they're in the preseason top 10.
The Gold Rush will try to qualify for
the national tournament for the 11th consecutive year and the 11th time overall.
Men's tennis is the only XULA sport to qualify for nationals 10 consecutive
years.
XULA's top-25 appearance is its 96th in a row,
the longest active streak in NAIA men's tennis. No. 17 Westmont is second with 82 straight
appearances.
Five-time defending national champion Georgia Gwinnett is a unanimous No. 1 for the 38th consecutive time.
The Grizzlies — unbeaten each of the past three seasons and a 5-0 winner against XULA in the 2018 NAIA national semifinals
— begin 2019 with an 84-dual win streak.
The Gold Rush active poll streaks:
• 96 consecutive appearances in the top 25 . . . streak began April 4, 2007.
• 87 consecutive appearances in the top 20 . . . streak began April 30, 2008.
• 72 consecutive appearances in the top 15 . . . streak began Feb. 1, 2011.
• 66 consecutive appearances in the top 10 . . . streak began May 3, 2011.
• 28 consecutive appearances in the top 5 . . . streak began Jan. 26, 2016.
• 28 consecutive appearances in the top 4 . . . streak began Jan. 26, 2016.
NAIA Men'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] |
27-0 |
374 |
| 2 |
2 |
Keiser (Fla.) |
18-7 |
362 |
| 3 |
3 |
Xavier (La.) |
13-12 |
350 |
| 4 |
4 |
William Carey (Miss.) |
13-4 |
334 |
| 5 |
5 |
Reinhardt (Ga.) |
18-4 |
323 |
| 6 |
6 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
14-1 |
314 |
| 7 |
7 |
William Woods (Mo.) |
16-7 |
302 |
| 8 |
8 |
Cumberland (Tenn.) |
21-4 |
295 |
| 9 |
9 |
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
20-7 |
274 |
| 10 |
10 |
Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) |
16-4 |
270 |
| 11 |
11 |
Mobile (Ala.) |
19-3 |
254 |
| 12 |
12 |
Arizona Christian |
19-8 |
241 |
| 13 |
13 |
Middle Georgia |
12-8 |
232 |
| 14 |
15 |
Tennessee Wesleyan |
12-5 |
216 |
| 15 |
14 |
Union (Ky.) |
14-6 |
204 |
| 16 |
15 |
Northwestern Ohio |
13-6 |
194 |
| 17 |
17 |
Westmont (Calif.) |
8-10 |
180 |
| 18 |
18 |
San Diego Christian (Calif.) |
8-8 |
164 |
| 19 |
19 |
McPherson (Kan.) |
15-4 |
162 |
| 20 |
20 |
Lawrence Tech (Mich.) |
20-6 |
138 |
| 21 |
21 |
Asbury (Ky.) |
15-2 |
127 |
| 22 |
22 |
Coastal Georgia |
11-7 |
122 |
| 23 |
NR |
Marian (Ind.) |
13-1 |
104 |
| 24 |
24 |
Point (Ga.) |
15-8 |
82 |
| 25 |
25 |
Cumberlands (Ky.) |
8-11 |
73 |
|
Others Receiving Votes: Indiana Wesleyan 71, Texas A&M-Texarkana 49, Loyola (La.) 27, Ottawa (Kan.) 26,
Missouri Valley 24, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 17, St. Thomas (Fla.) 10, St. Francis (Ill.) 7, Midland (Neb.) 6,
Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) 5, Georgetown (Ky.) 4, Hastings (Neb.) 3, Southwestern (Kan.) 3
