NCAA DII Tennis Southeast Regional Play Begins Thursday

SAVANNAH, Ga. - The Armstrong Atlantic State men's and women's tennis teams begin defense of their NCAA Division II Tennis Championships by hosting the Men's & Women's Southeast Regional, which begins action on Thursday at the AASU Tennis Complex in Savannah.

Six men's teams and five women's teams will battle for a berth each in the 2009 NCAA DII Tennis Championships, to take place on May 13-16 in Altamonte Springs, Fla.

The men's field features the top-ranked and defending DII national champion host Armstrong Atlantic State Pirates (24-1), who have won 55 of their last 56 matches, dating back to last season. The No. 2 seed is USC Aiken (18-4), who comes into the regional ranked No. 9 in the nation and is also on a hot streak, having won 12 of their last 13 matches. Both top seeds earn a bye in the regional and will not play until Friday.

Thursday's action in the men's bracket begins at 2:00 p.m. with No. 17-ranked Francis Marion (15-5) taking on the South Atlantic Conference champions from Mars Hill (13-5). Despite being in neighboring conferences, this will be only the second-ever meeting between FMU and Mars Hill. The Patriots captured a 5-2 win on March 10, 1994. Former FMU men's basketball player David Riggins is the athletic director at Mars Hill.

The second first-round match will feature PBC rivals Augusta State (10-10), ranked No. 24 in the nation, against Lander (8-8), who comes in ranked No. 18. Lander took the regular season matchup between the two schools, 7-2.

The winner of Francis Marion/Mars Hill meets USC Aiken at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, May 8, with the Augusta State/Lander winner taking on AASU at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The championship match will be at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 9.

On the women's side, the No. 3-ranked Lady Pirates (22-1) are the top seed after capturing its sixth straight PBC tournament title. AASU has captured four NCAA DII National Championships, including one last season, and is chasing "one for the thumb" in 2009. 

Thursday's first-round matchup features two South Atlantic Conference rivals as Carson-Newman (13-2), the SAC Tournament champion, faces off against Tusculum (17-5), the SAC regular season champion. Tusculum won the regular season meeting, 6-3, but the two teams did not meet in the conference tournament.

The winner of Tusculum/Carson-Newman faces AASU at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, May 8. The other second-round match pits No. 11-ranked Clayton State (10-6) against No. 19-ranked Augusta State (13-7) at 10:30 a.m. on Friday. Clayton State won the regular season matchup between the two squads, 7-2.

Individually, the field features nine of the nation's top-ranked men's singles players, including three in the top 10 - AASU's Eudaldo Bonet (No. 2), USC Aiken's Bruno Seves (No. 6) and Francis Marion's Oshada Wijemanne (No. 10). Six of the nation's top 25-ranked men's doubles duos will also be in action, highlighted by the No. 5-ranked team of Paul Bishop and Mikk Irdoja of host AASU. The women's field features the nation's top-ranked singles player in AASU freshman Sona Novakova, the PBC's Freshman and Player of the Year in 2009, as well as five other singles players ranked in the top 50. Four of the nation's top 12-ranked doubles duos are featured as well, led by AASU's Martina Beckmann and Alida Muller-Wehlau, the No. 2-ranked duo in the country.

A live webcam will be set up so fans can look in on the action all weekend long, as well as live stats that will be provided for all of the matches. Links to those items, as well as box scores and recaps after each match, can be found on the reigonal page at http://aasupirates.com/insideAthletics/news/2009ncaatennisregional .