Tournament information
NAIA women's tennis preseason coaches poll

        NEW ORLEANS — The third-seeded Xavier University of Louisiana women will play sixth-seeded St. Thomas (Fla.) at 6:30 p.m. CST Friday in the second annual Intercollegiate Tennis Association NAIA National Indoor Championships at Overland Park, Kan.
        Overland Park Racquet Club is the venue for the three-day, eight-team event.
        This is the first dual match of the season for the Gold Nuggets, who were 22-7 last season, won the Red River Athletic Conference Tournament and reached the quarterfinals of NAIA nationals in May. That team tied the school record for dual-match victories in a season.
        The other first-round matchups Friday are top-seeded Georgia Gwinnett vs. eighth-seeded William Woods, fourth-seeded Tennessee Wesleyan vs. fifth-seeded Ave Maria and second-seeded Southeastern (Fla.) vs. seventh-seeded William Carey.
        The Gold Nuggets were 2-1 at indoor nationals in 2023, beating Lindsey Wilson and Indiana Wesleyan after a first-round loss to LSU-Alexandria. Returning for XULA from last season are Valaine Clarke, Mbali Langa, Valentina Largacha, Kareemah Muhammad, Ariana Stephens and McKenna Wheatley. Newcomers are freshmen Sydney Green — daughter of longtime XULA tennis head coach Alan Green — and Amira Bergaoui, who enrolled at XULA in January. Also rejoining the team in January was Kyra Akinnibi, an ITA NAIA All-America and the Southern States Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year for XULA in 2021.
        Langa and Wheatley were the NAIA Gulf ITA regional doubles champion in October. Langa and Muhammad were NAIA first-team All-Americans last season.
        This season XULA is fifth in the NAIA preseason coaches poll. In the ITA NAIA preseason national player rankings, Langa is No. 29 in singles, and Langa and Wheatley are No. 3 in doubles.
        The Gold Nuggets will play their home opener at 3 p.m. next Thursday against LSU-Shreveport at XULA Tennis Center. The XULA women will play eight additional times at home.
        Three former XULA players — Lacee Ancar, Farah Baklouti and Sebastian Perez — are assistant coaches this season. This is Ancar's fourth year on the staff and the second apiece for Baklouti and Perez.