NEW ORLEANS — For the third consecutive time, Xavier University of Louisiana is seventh in the NAIA men's tennis coaches poll.
The NAIA announced Tuesday the final poll before the national tournament, which will begin May 14 in Mobile, Ala. The NAIA will reveal Monday the 24 men's teams that qualified, with seedings and pairings to follow the next day.
The Gold Rush (14-8) concluded the regular season Saturday and will not play in a conference or unaffiliated group tournament. But the ranking appears high enough for the XULA men to earn an at-large bid and their 11th consecutive appearance at nationals.
XULA's active streaks of 102 consecutive top-25 appearances and 72 consecutive top-10 appearances are the longest in NAIA men's tennis.
This is the ninth straight year that the Gold Rush are in the final top 10 before nationals.
Upcoming dates:
•
April 29: Announcement of qualifiers — NAIA National Championships tournament (24 men's teams, 24 women's teams)
•
April 30: Announcement of brackets for nationals
•
May 1-8: Final exams
•
May 11: XULA commencement (10 a.m. at Convocation Center)
•
May 12: XULA teams depart for nationals (late afternoon)
•
May 14-18: NAIA National Championships tournament at Mobile, Ala. (Copeland-Cox Mobile Tennis Center . . . both XULA teams reached the national semifinals in 2018)
•
May 17: Announcement of Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes
•
May 21: Announcement of NAIA All-Americans
•
May 22: Announcement of NAIA top-25 postseason polls
NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses — records through April 21) |
| RANK |
PREVIOUS |
SCHOOL |
RECORD |
POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
Georgia Gwinnett (14) |
22-0 |
374 |
| 2 |
2 |
Reinhardt (Ga.) |
16-1 |
361 |
| 3 |
3 |
Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) |
14-4 |
344 |
| 4 |
4 |
Middle Georgia |
12-2 |
337 |
| 5 |
5 |
Point (Ga.) |
15-6 |
335 |
| 6 |
6 |
Keiser (Fla.) |
14-6 |
311 |
| 7 |
7 |
Xavier (La.) |
14-8 |
300 |
| 8 |
8 |
William Carey (Miss.) |
11-4 |
292 |
| 9 |
11 |
Union (Ky.) |
12-8 |
275 |
| 10 |
9 |
William Woods (Mo.) |
18-2 |
267 |
| 11 |
10 |
Tennessee Wesleyan |
11-6 |
258 |
| 12 |
12 |
Arizona Christian |
18-1 |
239 |
| 13 |
13 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
9-6 |
230 |
| 14 |
14 |
Cumberlands (Ky.) |
12-5 |
217 |
| 15 |
15 |
Mobile (Ala.) |
12-4 |
212 |
| 16 |
16 |
Cumberland (Tenn.) |
12-6 |
195 |
| 17 |
17 |
Hope International (Calif.) |
16-6 |
180 |
| 18 |
19 |
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
11-7 |
160 |
| 19 |
18 |
Marian (Ind.) |
20-8 |
151 |
| T20 |
22 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
23-10 |
128 |
| T20 |
21 |
Coastal Georgia |
11-4 |
128 |
| 22 |
20 |
Southwestern (Kan.) |
14-3 |
120 |
| 23 |
RV |
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
9-11 |
111 |
| 24 |
23 |
Northwestern Ohio |
11-11 |
103 |
| 25 |
24 |
Missouri Valley |
12-6 |
84 |
Dropped from the Top 25: McPherson (Kan.)
Others Receiving Votes: McPherson (Kan.) 78, Asbury (Ky.) 52, Westmont (Calif.) 44, Texas A&M-Texarkana 32, Southeastern (Fla.) 32, Loyola (La.) 14, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 12, Webber International (Fla.) 5, SCAD Atlanta (Ga.) 3.
