FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 9-28-00

AASU Hosts ITA Men's Tennis Southeast Regional This Weekend

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Six of the nation's top 25 NCAA Division II singles players from the 2000 season will be participating in the ITA Southeast Region Men's Tennis Championships on the campus of Armstrong Atlantic State from Friday, Sept. 29, to Monday, Oct. 2.

Sixty-one players representing 11 schools will compete in singles and doubles play for the chance to advance to the Rolex/ITA National Championships in Memphis, Tenn., on October 19-22.

The top seed in the tournament is Tobias Huning from Lander University. Huning finished the 2000 spring season ranked No. 13 in the nation and was a key component on Lander's NCAA Division II National Championship squad. Stefan Wirtz from host Armstrong Atlantic State, who finished No. 17 in the final rankings in 2000, is the second seed. Other seeded players include: No. 3, Lander's Evgeni Mikheev (#18 ranking), No. 4 Christopher Petersen of AASU (#19 ranking). Seeded Nos. 5-8 are Nicolai Soblowski (#20 ranking) and David Olave (#31 ranking) of Valdosta State and Lazlo Leiter (#23 ranking) and Mark Bube (#35 ranking) of Francis Marion.

Lander's doubles team of Huning and Nordstrom are seeded No. 1, back to defend not only their Southeast Region doubles title but their Rolex Nationals title as well. Francis Marion's Mark Bube and Solle Nortje are seeded No. 2 and were ranked No. 8 in the final spring rankings in 2000. AASU's top doubles team of Christoper Petersen and Blaise Tribolet are seeded third, while Valdosta State's top team of Nicolai Soblowski and Rasmus Larsen are seeded fourth.

Other teams sending players to the ITA Southeast Regional include: Augusta State, Alabama-Huntsville, Georgia College & State, USC Spartanburg, USC Aiken, Morehouse, and West Georgia.

Play begins at 2:00 p.m. on Friday and continues through Monday.

(draw to follow)

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

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