FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 9-21-00

AASU Hosts ITA Women's Tennis Southeast Regional This Weekend

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Many of the top NCAA Division II women's tennis players in the nation converge on Savannah this weekend as Armstrong Atlantic State hosts the ITA Women's Tennis Southeast Regional beginning on Saturday.

Fifty-four players representing 12 schools will compete in singles and doubles play for the chance to advance to the Rolex/ITA Nationals in Memphis, Tenn., on October 19-22.

The top seed in the tournament is senior Annamaria Atamaniuk from the Francis Marion Patriots. A three-time ITA Division II All-America in singles, Atamaniuk was ranked No. 8 in the ITA/Wingspan Division II Singles Rankings at the end of the 1999-2000 season. AASU junior Michaela Kratochvilova is seeded second after earning ITA Division II All-America honors last season and finishing the year with a No. 9 national ranking. Rounding out the seedings are a couple of players from Georgia College & State University, Lilia Biktyakova (No. 3) and Julia Roudkovskaya (No. 4), each of whom were ranked in the Top 20 last season.

Biktyakova and Roudkovskaya, two-time ITA Division II All-America honorees in doubles, are also the top seed in the doubles brackets and have captured the ITA Southeast Regional each of the past two seasons. The doubles team of Jeanne van der Merwe and Adri van der Wath of Delta State are seeded second.

The host Pirates' Kratochvilova and freshman Laura Puch are seeded third in the doubles, while Lynn University's Marketa Langerova and Maria Palacios are seeded fourth.

Other teams sending players to the ITA Southeast Regional include: Augusta State, Clayton College & State, Fort Valley State, Kennesaw State, Lynn University, UNC Pembroke, USC Spartanburg and West Georgia.

Play begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday and continues through Monday.

- Pirates -

Click <here> for the entire ITA Women's Tennis South Regional draw (.pdf format)

Visit the ITA Women's Tennis South Regional site <here>