FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 6-6-02

Five AASU Tennis Players Earn ITA All-America Honors
AASU Women Finish Season No. 2, Men Finish No. 11 In Final Rankings

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Five members of the Armstrong Atlantic State men's and women's tennis teams earned ITA All-America Honors, announced by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association on Thursday afternoon.

The Lady Pirates (26-4), who finished the season ranked No. 2 after their sixth finals appearance in the last eight seasons, had three honorees. Sophomore Zsofi Golopencza finished the season ranked No. 1 in singles and No. 1 in doubles, earning ITA All-America honors in both singles and doubles for the second consecutive season. Senior Michaela Kratochvilova finished the year ranked No. 16 in singles and No. 1 in doubles, earning ITA All-America honors in both singles and doubles for the third consecutive year. Freshman Annamaria Forgacs finished the year ranked No. 11 in singles and earned ITA All-America honors in singles for the first time in her career.

The Pirate men's squad (13-12) finished the season ranked No. 11 in the nation and the doubles duo of freshmen Dale White and Achim Roth finished the season ranked No. 10 in the nation in doubles, earning ITA All-America honors.

Other final rankings attained by AASU tennis players in 2002 were: sophomore Laura Peaty finished the year ranked No. 18 in doubles with her teammate, Annamaria Forgacs; on the men's side, sophomore Roger Thiele finished the season ranked No. 21 in singles and Dale White finished the season ranked No. 42 in singles.

The AASU men's and women's tennis programs have combined to boast 53 ITA Division II All-America players in the past 13 seasons, dating back to 1989. The five honorees are the most for the Pirate tennis teams since 1999, when AASU had six ITA All-America honorees.

- Pirates -