Gold Nuggets earn at-large bid to NAIA nationals
May 5, 2008

NEW ORLEANS — The Xavier University of Louisiana women's tennis team earned one of 10 at-large bids Monday to next week's NAIA National Championship.

It will be the third trip to the national tournament for the Gold Nuggets (16-7), who also earned at-large bids in 2004 and 2005.

Coach Alan Green's Nuggets ranked 13th in the final NAIA poll released this past week. They were 8-0 in their Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season matches, finished second to Mobile in the GCAC Tournament and — for the first time — advanced to the semifinals of the NAIA Region XIII Tournament.

Twenty-four women's teams will compete for the NAIA title, including four-time defending champion Auburn Montgomery. Seedings and pairings will be announced Wednesday afternoon, and the single-elimination tournament will begin next Monday (May 12). Tournament site will be the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile. Ala.

Eight teams will receive first-round byes, but Xavier is not expected to be one of the eight. Xavier is 2-0 in first-round matches; the Nuggets defeated Lee (Tenn.) 8-1 in 2004 and Indiana Southeast 9-0 in 2005.

Xavier's men (15-9) were passed over for an at-large bid despite a No. 17 national ranking. The Gold Rush appeared to be the last team out when the 10 at-large bids were awarded, because No. 16 Lindenwood received an at-large bid. Other ranked men's teams not making the field were No. 18 Webber International, No. 22 Lee, No. 23 Benedictine and No. 25 Cumberland.

This is the third consecutive Gold Rush team to be ranked in the final top 25 and not receive a bid to the national tournament. The other years were 2007 (ranked 25th) and 2005 (24th). Xavier did not field tennis teams in 2006 due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina.