Rush, with two victories against ranked foes, still No. 8

NEW ORLEANS -- There was no change Tuesday for Xavier University of Louisiana in the NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25. The Gold Rush (3-1) are No. 8, same as in the preseason.

But the Gold Rush resumé has recent enhancements. The XU men defeated a pair of ranked teams, Belhaven and William Carey, in their two most recent dual matches.

William Carey dropped out of the top 25 Tuesday, and Belhaven remained No. 10.

The Gold Rush are in the top 25 for the 61st consecutive poll and in the top 10 for the 31st consecutive time.

Defending NAIA champion Georgia Gwinnett received all 13 first-place votes. The top eight teams are the same as in the preseason.

The next Gold Rush dual will start at 2 p.m. Tuesday (Feb. 24) against Alcorn State at XU Tennis Center. The next dual against a ranked team likely will occur March 7 or 8 during the final two days of the AUM Invitational at Montgomery, Ala.

NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through Feb. 15) Rank Team Record Points Last 1 Georgia Gwinnett (13) 5-0 343 1 2 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 3-0 332 2 3 Auburn Montgomery 1-3 320 3 4 Vanguard 6-0 311 4 5 Lindsey Wilson 2-2 299 5 6 Cumberland 0-0 282 6 7 Bethany (Kan.) 0-0 276 7 8 Xavier 3-1 268 8 9 Westmont 3-2 253 9 10 Belhaven 4-1 237 10 11 Concordia (Calif.) 4-2 232 11 12 Northwestern Ohio 6-1 214 NR 13 Graceland 3-0 207 12 14 Coastal Georgia 0-1 198 13 15 Northwood (Fla.) 2-0 197 14 16 SCAD Atlanta 0-2 175 15 17 Pikeville 0-0 157 16 18 Olivet Nazarene 0-0 146 17 19 Oklahoma Baptist 0-0 143 18 20 Lewis-Clark State 2-3 129 tie-19 21 San Diego Christian 4-1 122 24 22 SCAD Savannah 1-2 101 tie-19 23 Mobile 2-0 99 21 24 Indiana Wesleyan 12-2 93 tie-22 25 McPherson 0-0 78 RV Others receiving votes: William Carey 73, Aquinas 56, Webber International 47, Marian (Ind.) 25, Campbellsville 24, Biola 13, Southeastern (Fla.) 11, Missouri Valley 8, Friends 5, Warner 3  Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director   XULAATHLETICS XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA https://twitter.com/xulagold https://www.facebook.com/