FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 5-6-00

NCAA Women's Tennis South Region Championship: AASU 5, North Florida 4

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The No. 6-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State women's tennis team earned its sixth consecutive trip to the NCAA Division II Women's Tennis National Championships with a 5-4 win over No. 7-ranked University of North Florida in South Region tennis action on Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore Michaela Kratochvilova defeated UNF's Tranae Fatu in a third-set tiebreaker to clinch the match for the Lady Pirates. AASU won two of three doubles matches and also got wins at No. 1 singles from Stephanie Kovacic and No. 4 singles from Marie-Claude Ostiguy.

The Lady Pirates have advanced to the NCAA Division II National Championship match each of the past five seasons, winning the NCAA Title in 1995 and 1996 and finishing runner-up in the past three years. The NCAA Division II Women's Tennis National Championships will take place on May 11-14 in Pensacola, Fla.

- Pirates -

Women: AASU 5, UNF 4

Singles
#1 – Stephanie Kovacic (AASU) def. Claudia Schiffczyk (UNF) 6-1, 6-3
#2 – Michaela Kratochvilova (AASU) def. Tranae Fatu (UNF) 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-2)
#3 – Nikki Fitzgerald (UNF) def. Petra Schemm (AASU) 7-5, 6-0
#4 – Marie-Claude Ostiguy (AASU) def. Amber Bradley (UNF) 6-0, 6-1
#5 – Allison Rowe (UNF) def. Aitana Vargas (AASU) 6-1, 6-0
#6 – Emily Holtz (UNF) def. Josephine Grube (AASU) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles
#1 – Kovacic/Kratochvilova (AASU) def. Schiffczyk/Fatu (UNF) 8-3
#2 – Schemm/Ostiguy (AASU) def. Fitzgerald/Bradley (UNF) 8-5
#3 – Rowe/Mandy Knight (UNF) def. Vargas/Grube (AASU) 8-1

Records: AASU (16-6), UNF (23-8)