FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2-3-00

AASU Tennis Teams Try To Return To Final Four In 2000

SAVANNAH, Ga. – The No. 3-ranked AASU women's tennis squad and the No. 4-ranked Pirate men's tennis teams make their first serves of the 2000 spring dual match season this Saturday with eyes on repeating as NCAA Division II Final Four participants.

Both teams, who face Division I opponent Winthrop University on Saturday, return key members from last season's squads, but add several newcomers to help the Pirates make a push for a NCAA Championship.

The No. 3-ranked women, who lost to BYU-Hawaii in the NCAA Championship Match last season, return All-PBAC seniors Marie-Claude Ostiguy and Petra Schemm, but welcome four new faces in junior Josephine Grube (Osterburg, Germany), junior Michaela Kratochvilova (Trebic, Czech Republic) and freshmen Stephanie Kovacic (Erkrath, Germany) and Aitana Vargas (Madrid, Spain). AASU, who captured NCAA Division II National Championships in 1995 and 1996 and have been finalists each of the past three seasons, will try and add a third title to their mantle this season.

“We've lost a good portion of last year's squad,” AASU head coach Simon Earnshaw said, ”But many of our newcomers join us with plenty of big-match experience. Our first goal is to defend our Peach Belt title, then return to the National Championships. With hard work on the practice court and the determination to keep an eye on one match at a time, we should be in position to be successful yet again.”

The No. 4-ranked men's squad returns two-time All-America doubles and All-America singles junior Stefan Wirtz and All-PBAC doubles junior Christopher Petersen, as well as senior Dave Webley and sophomores Blaise Tribolet and John Stone from last season's squad that surprised many by advancing to the semifinals of the NCAA Division II National Championships. Newcomers who will try and help the Pirates achieve their first national title include junior Frederic Heitz (Metz, France) and freshmen Aref Jallali (Tunis, Tunisia), Nickolay Nesterov (Klin, Russia) and James Nichols (Savannah, Ga.).

“Our men have come into this season very dedicated,” Earnshaw said. “And we've added some depth and strengthened our doubles lineup. I'd like to see us do better in the Peach Belt this season, get back to where we were last season at Nationals, and then just see what happens. Our schedule is loaded with tournament-calibre teams and will give us several good tests throughout the regular season.”

The always-competitive Peach Belt Athletic Conference features three of the top 11 teams in the nation in both the men and women's 1999 ITA Fall Division II National Rankings (Lander, AASU and North Florida for the men, AASU, Georgia C&SU and North Florida for the women) and the Pirates will face perennially-top ranked teams in Lynn, West Florida, Florida Southern and Rollins as well throughout the season.

- Pirates -