This Week In Armstrong Atlantic State Athletics, 10-15-01

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 10-15-01

This Week In Armstrong Atlantic State Athletics

Monday, October 15
No Events Scheduled

Tuesday, October 16
No Events Scheduled

Wednesday, October 17
• Men's and Women's Basketball Media Day, 2:30 p.m.
• Volleyball at USC Aiken, 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, October 18
• Women's Tennis at 2001 ITA Small College National Championships (McKinney, Texas)

Friday, October 19
• Volleyball at Catawba adidas Invitational (Salisbury, N.C.)
AASU at Catawba, 2:00 p.m.
AASU vs. Slippery Rock, 6:00 p.m.
• Women's Tennis at 2001 ITA Small College National Championships (McKinney, Texas)
• Men's Tennis at 2001 USC Fall Invitational (Columbia, S.C.)

Saturday, October 20
• Volleyball at Catawba adidas Invitational (Salisbury, N.C.)
AASU vs. Converse, Noon
AASU vs. Tusculum, 4:00 p.m.
• Women's Tennis at 2001 ITA Small College National Championships (McKinney, Texas)
• Men's Tennis at 2001 USC Fall Invitational (Columbia, S.C.)

Sunday, October 21
• Women's Tennis at 2001 ITA Small College National Championships (McKinney, Texas)
• Men's Tennis at 2001 USC Fall Invitational (Columbia, S.C.)

Volleyball (16-7 Overall, 5-2 Peach Belt, t8th South Region)

The Armstrong Atlantic State volleyball team went 2-1 this week in key South Region matches, losing Thursday at Tampa, 3-0, but defeating Florida Tech, 3-1, and Florida Southern, 3-2, on Saturday.

The Pirates traveled to Tampa on Thursday to face the Spartans, who were ranked No. 6 in the latest AVCA/Division II Top 25 poll. AASU hit just .104 in the match and committed 13 reception errors in losing to the Spartans, 30-19, 30-17, 30-20.

AASU rebounded, however, with two key wins on Saturday at the 25^th Annual FSC Moccasin Invitational in Lakeland, Fla. Sofie Hakansson's 20 kills helped the Pirates past Florida Tech, 27-30, 30-22, 30-28, 30-20, in the first match of the day, then Hakansson notched 16 kills, 23 digs and seven blocks in the Pirates' 30-26, 27-30, 30-26, 29-31, 15-9 win over Florida Southern.

The Pirates improved to 16-7 overall and this week face USC Aiken in a key PBC match on Wednesday, October 17 at 7:00 p.m. before traveling to Salisbury, N.C., for the 2001 Catawba adidas Invitational on Friday, October 19 and Saturday, October 20.

Women's Tennis

The Lady Pirates competed at the 2001 GC&SU Women's Fall Championships this weekend in Milledgeville, Ga.

Freshman Annamaria Forgacs, the top seed in the A singles flight, defeated Eva Andrews of Kennesaw State, 6-1, 6-2, but lost to Abraham Baldwin's Natalia Drabova, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, in the semifinals. Sophomore Laura Puch lost her first-round match to the eventual A singles flight champion, Annika Persson of GC&SU, 6-5, 6-0. Alejandra Aguilar, the No. 2 seed in the B singles flight, won her opening match in a walkover, but lost her semifinals match to Aline Quintal of Clayton College & State, 6-3, 6-3. In doubles, the duo of Puch and Forgacs lost to the Abraham Baldwin team of Drabova and Luiza Biktyakova, 8-5, in the semifinals of the A doubles flight.

This week, sophomore Zsofi Golopencza and senior Michaela Kratochvilova travel to McKinney, Texas, on the campus of Collin County Community College for the ITA Small College National Championships on October 18-21. Golopenza, the No. 1 seed in the singles draw, will face BYU-Hawaii's Adrienn Hegedus in her first rond match. Golopencza and Kratochvilova, the No. 2 seeded pair in doubles, face Abbeie Sweitzer and Kate Opilo of Millersville in their first doubles match.

The winner of the singles and doubles draws advance to the final draws, featuring the winners from all four small college divisions - II, III, NAIA and Junior College.

Men's Tennis

The Pirate men's tennis team travels to the University of South Carolina for action in the 2001 USC Fall Invitational in Columbia, S.C., on Friday, October 19 through Sunday, October 21.

Golf

The Armstrong Atlantic State men's golf team finished seventh at the Presbyterian College Intercollegiate in Clinton, S.C., last week. The Pirates shot rounds of 298 and 324 to finish with a two-day total of 622, 46-over-par and 23 strokes behind team champion USC Aiken.

Sophomore Thomas Whittaker (75-78=153, +9) and sophomore Clay Best (71-82=153, +9) were the Pirates' top finishers, tying for 14^th individually. Freshman Nick Cowper (78-80=158, +14) and freshman Lee Clarke (74-84=158, +14) tied for 32^nd individually, while freshman Jonathan Cox (84-87=171, +27) rounded out the Pirates' scoring, tying for 71^st place.

The Pirate golfers are next in action on November 5-7 at the Rollins College Intercollegiate at the Forest Lake Country Club in Ocoee, Fla.

Men's and Women's Basketball

The AASU men's and women's basketball teams begin practices today for the upcoming 2001-2002 season. On Wednesday, October 17, AASU will hold its annual men's and women's basketball media day at 2:30 p.m. at Alumni Arena in the Armstrong Sports Center.

The men's team, picked to finish ninth in the Peach Belt Conference in a preseason poll of the league's coaches released on Friday, features new head coach John Marhefka and nine newcomers to the Pirates' roster. AASU does return an experienced backcourt in seniors Mick Jordan, the PBC's active leading three-point shooter, and Donta Humphries. The Pirates open the season on November 17 at Presbyterian.

The women's team, picked to finish sixth in the conference by the league's coaches, returns first-team All-PBC center Zandrique Cason and also adds six newcomers to the squad. Roger Hodge, in his second year as head coach, and the Lady Pirates open the season on November 16-17 as they host the AASU/Chatham Orthopaedics Lady Pirate Tipoff Classic.

- Pirates -