Brenau Ranked Among Best in the Country

The loss to Lynn came on the heels of a 7-2 victory over NCAA Division II Florida Southern on March 14. Ana Veselinovic, rated the No. 1 singles player nationally in the NAIA by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, posted a 6-1, 6-3 win in No. 2 singles. She also teamed with Jade Curtis, the second-ranked doubles duo nationally, for an 8-5 decision in No. 1 doubles.

The rest of the top eight also remained the same. The Sunbirds again hold down the No. 2 spot with 272 points despite three-straight defeats, albeit against stiff competition. Those losses have come to the NCAA Division II Nos. 4 and 5 teams in Armstrong Atlantic (Ga.) and Hawaii Pacific and NCAA Division I New Mexico.

No. 3 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) collected 263 points, fueled by 10-consecutive wins since a 9-0 defeat to defending NCAA Division II national champion Barry University (Fla.) on Feb. 5. The Eagles are followed by No. 4 Oklahoma Christian with 254 points and No. 5 Azusa Pacific (Calif.) with 245 points.

The biggest upward movements in the poll were seen at the end of the Top 25, where Westmont (Calif.) and Oklahoma Baptist both entered the poll in a tie at No. 21 after going unranked in the March 6 poll. Westmont shutout Biola (Calif.) 9-0 on March 13 in its most recent outing, improving to 3-5 in Golden State Athletic Conference action. Meanwhile, Oklahoma Baptist topped Bethel (Ind.) 9-0 on March 13 before falling to then-No. 9 Southern Nazarene (Okla.) and No. 3 Embry-Riddle in its next two matches.

SCAD Atlanta (Ga.) fell the hardest in this week's poll, going from No. 19 to the receiving votes category. The Bees are out of the rankings for the first time this season and were joined by Belhaven (Miss.) (No. 21) and Webber International (Fla.) (No. 23) as squads that spiraled from the poll.

The third newcomer to the rankings is No. 24 Xavier (La.), which is 3-14 overall. However, nine of the 14 losses have come at the hands of NCAA Division I opponents and the other five have been suffered while up against teams ranked in the NAIA Top 25.

Eight of the 13 conferences/independents/unaffiliated groupings are represented in the poll with the Golden State Athletic Conference leading all leagues with six Top 25 members: Fresno Pacific, Azusa Pacific, No. 6 Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.), No. 8 Concordia (Calif.), No. 15 Vanguard (Calif.) and Westmont.

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences/independents/unaffiliated groupings. The next poll will be released on April 3.

Notes: (All information as of the 2000 season) Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) pushed its NAIA-leading all-time No. 1 appearances to 61. Brenau (Ga.) is next closest with 10 No. 1 rankings, followed by Fresno Pacific (Calif.) with eight, Shorter (Ga.) with three and Northwood (Fla.) with two Auburn Montgomery topped each poll from May 5, 2004, to May 1, 2010, a span of 47-straight No. 1 rankings, which is an NAIA record The next closest streak is just eight by Fresno Pacific, which garnered the top selection in all eight polls in 2011 Northwood gained its only two No. 1 rankings in school history in 2003 when it went on to win the national championship. Auburn Montgomery won the next six national titles until Fresno Pacific ended that run in 2010 with a championship of its own Westmont (Calif.) is ranked for the first time since March 22, 2011. Oklahoma Baptist is appearing in the rankings for the first time since the preseason, while Xavier (La.) is back in the Top 25 for the first time since March 8, 2011.

Others receiving votes: Belhaven (Miss.) 69; Webber International (Fla.) 57; SCAD Atlanta (Ga.) 38; Indiana Southeast 33; Bethel (Kan.) 27; Taylor (Ind.) 8; Northwood (Fla.) 8; Northwestern Ohio 5; The Master's (Calif.) 3; Cumberlands (Ky.) 1; Milligan (Tenn.) 1; Nebraska Wesleyan 1.

The NAIA women's tennis top 25 poll featured a photo of Brenau's very own senior, All-American, tennis player Lyn See Choo of Kuching, Malaysia.