CU men's tennis moves up to No. 12

The Lebanon Democrat, Tenn.
·2 min read

Feb. 16—By DEMOCRAT STAFF

Cumberland's men moved up one spot to No. 12 in the first regular season NAIA tennis coaches' poll released yesterday by the national office.

The Phoenix started the year with a solid 4-1 record with their only loss coming to NCAA DI program Lipscomb. Cumberland has solid wins over the Cumberlands and Campbellsville this fall with big wins over Oakland City and Blue Mountain College this spring. Lindsey Wilson is the highest-ranked conference team at No. 8. The Blue Raiders are 1-2 to begin the year, having lost to #1 Keiser (Fla.) and #5 Xavier (La.) but winning over Indiana Wesleyan. Cumberland moved up to 12 with recent wins over #20 Oakland City University and Blue Mountain College. The Cumberlands (Ky.) Patriots are 19th with 138 points, and Campbellsville (Ky.) is in the receiving votes category. #1 Keiser (343 points) swaps spots with #2 Georgia Gwinnett (332 points) atop the poll. Tennessee Wesleyan, Northwestern Ohio and Xavier remain in the same spots at third, fourth, and fifth, respectively. Cumberland has a big week this week yesterday against Sewanee. The Phoenix will then head to Lawrenceville, Ga., to take part in the Georgia Gwinnett Invite where they will take on several top-ranked opponents including No. 1 Georgia Gwinnett.

Cumberland's women received votes in the first regular season NAIA tennis coaches' top 25 poll released yesterday by the national office.

The Phoenix have started the year 2-4 with losses against very good teams. Cumberland has defeated No. 22 Campbellsville and RV Oakland City while three losses have come to NCAA programs in Southern Indiana, Murray State and a top 10 DIII program in Sewanee.

Around the Mid-South, the Cumberlands stayed in seventh, earning 275 total points. The Blue Raiders of Lindsey Wilson stayed put at 11 as well. No. 22 Campbellsville is now 5-1 on the year with three consecutive wins over Oakland City, Centre and Indiana University Southeast. Keiser (343 points) overtook Georgia Gwinnett (332 points) for the top spot as the two teams flip placements. SCAD Savannah (Ga.) and LSU Alexandria (La.) also changed spots, sitting third and fourth, respectively. Xavier rounds out the top five with 295 points.

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and Unaffiliated Groupings.

The second regular-season poll is scheduled to come out March 8.