FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 10-4-99

This Week In Armstrong Atlantic State Athletics

Monday, October 4
• Men's Tennis hosts ITA Regional

Tuesday, October 5
No Events Scheduled

Wednesday, October 6
No Events Scheduled

Thursday, October 7
No Events Scheduled

Friday, October 8
• Volleyball at Fayetteville State Tournament (Fayetteville, N.C.)
AASU vs. North Carolina Central, 1 p.m.
AASU vs. Mount Olive, 5 p.m.

Saturday, October 9
• Volleyball at Fayetteville State Tournament (Fayetteville, N.C.)
AASU vs. St. Augustine's, 10:00 a.m.
AASU vs. Benedict, 2 p.m.
• Cross Country at Georgia Southern Invitational (Statesboro, Ga.)

Sunday, October 10
No Events Scheduled

Cross Country

The AASU cross country teams competed at the Disney Cross Country Classic at DisneyWorld's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla., over the weekend and finished seventh in both the men's and women's brackets – second among NCAA Division II teams.

The Lady Pirates finished seventh out of 24 teams with 221 points behind the strong running of junior Nikki Garland. Garland finished second overall, finishing the 5000 meter course in a time of 18:59.45, nine seconds behind the champion, Sonja Shedden of Central Florida.

Melanie Clarke finished 26th overall in a time of 20:41.38, followed by Jillian Charles (57th, 21:31.00), Katie Graham (70th, 21:49.75) and Amanda Legesse (105th, 22:51.01).

The men also finished seventh out of 22 teams with 171 points. Freshman Paul McRae finished 11th - first among Division II runners – after completing the 8000 meter course in a time of 27:39.65. Senior Gary Ginn finished 21st with a time of 28:15.96, followed by Tony Menendez (35th, 29:02.64), Robert Crenshaw (36th, 29:04.86) and Drew Korenvaes (78th, 31:10.10).

Florida Southern College placed first among NCAA Division II schools in both the men's and women's fields.

Both cross country teams return to action at Georgia Southern University in the GSU Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 9. AASU had been scheduled to compete in the Valdosta State Invitational but made a late schedule change. The GSU Invitational will be the final meet for AASU before the PBAC Championships in two weeks.

Men's and Women's Tennis

No. 1 seed Maren Muller of Armstrong Atlantic State defeated No. 2 seed Lilia Biktyakova of Georgia College & State 7-5, 6-2, to capture the ITA Women's Tennis Southeast Region singles title on Saturday morning at AASU.

Mueller advances to the ITA/Rolex National Championships in Memphis, Tenn., on October 21-24, along with the doubles champions from Georgia College & State, Biktyakova and Iouliya Rodkovskaya, who defeated Mueller and Michaela Kratochvilova, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 in the championship match.

In the men's ITA Southeast Regional, AASU's Stefan Wirtz advanced to the singles semifinal before bowing out to No. 1 seed Tobias Huning, 6-4, 6-3. Wirtz and his doubles teammate, Frederic Heitz, also advanced to the doubles semifinal, but lost a three-set match to the No. 2 seeded team of Andrew Graaff and Glynn Hulley of Francis Marion, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Volleyball (21-0 overall, 3-0 PBAC)

Head Coach Alan Segal's squad ran its record to 21-0 with three wins on the week, including two PBAC road victories over Lander, 3-0, and USC Spartanburg, 3-1, and a home victory over crosstown rival Savannah College of Art & Design, 3-0.

Freshman Lindsay Ehlers enjoyed a fine week for the Pirates, collecting 44 kills in the three matches and hitting .308. She notched 18 kills and 18 digs in the four-game win over USC Spartanburg and is the only freshman to rank in the Top 10 in the Peach Belt in kills per game and hitting percentage.

The Pirates step out of conference this weekend for a visit to Fayetteville, N.C., to play in Fayetteville State's tournament. AASU will take on North Carolina Central and Mount Olive on Friday, then face St. Augustine's and Benedict on Saturday.