PBC Women's Tennis Tournament Begins Friday; Brackets Released

AUGUSTA, GA – The Peach Belt Conference has released the bracket for the 2009 women’s tennis tournament which begins on Friday at the Clayton County Tennis Center in Jonesboro, Ga. The event is hosted by Clayton State University. All 11 PBC women’s teams will compete for the tournament championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The PBC tournament will be one of the premier Division II women’s events in the nation with six teams ranked in the latest ITA national poll. PBC singles players also account for more than 25% of the top 50 ranked players in the country.

Armstrong Atlantic State will be the #1 seed for the PBC Tournament once again. The Lady Pirates won their 15th PBC Championship in the regular season by going undefeated in conference play for the sixth year in a row, winning 62 straight regular-season conference matches dating back to 2003. The defending DII National Champions, AASU is 19-1 overall and ranked #3 in the nation. Freshman Sona Novakova is the top-ranked singles player in the nation with a perfect 17-0 dual match record at #1 singles. Alida Muller-Wehlau is ranked 16th nationally and Gabriella Kovacs #19.

Columbus State is the second seed after blazing through the PBC schedule with a 9-1 record, their best PBC finish since 2006. The Lady Cougars are 19-2 overall and ranked #6 nationally. Senior Eva Petschnig is ranked #6 in the nation with a 16-1 record at #1 singles while Roxana Dondera is 24th and Hanne Toumi 42nd. Columbus State will be looking for their first PBC Tournament title after reaching the championship match in 2007, 2005 and 2004.

Francis Marion is the third seed for the PBC Tournament after finishing the PBC schedule with an 8-2 record and 16-3 overall. The Patriots are ranked #8 in the nation and for the first time ever will be a top-3 seed in the PBC Tournament for back-to-back tournaments. FMU is led by Tereza Sykorova at #1 singles. The junior is ranked 18th in the nation with a 16-3 dual match record. Kristyna Horakova enters the PBC with a 15-2 singles record and is ranked 48th in the nation.

Clayton State hosts the PBC Tournament for the first time ever and will be looking for their first tournament championship. The Lakers enter the PBC as the #4 seed, 6-3 in conference play this season and 9-5 overall. Clayton State is ranked #11 in the nation and are led by Viktoryia Semyrodenko who has played both first and second singles and is ranked 23rd in the nation. Semyrodenko and doubles partner Katie White also have the sixth-ranked doubles team in the nation.

Augusta State is the fifth seed and will face Clayton State in the first round of the tournament. The Lady Jaguars are ranked #19 in the nation with a 13-6 overall record, 5-4 in conference play. Nathalia Rodriques is 12-6 playing at #1 singles and is ranked 22nd in the nation.

GCSU is the sixth seed and ranked #22 in the nation after going 5-5 in conference play and 9-8 overall against a schedule that featured seven nationally-ranked teams. Marjorie Ceppo is 9-8 at the top singles spot and ranked 47th in the nation.

Lander was ranked in the top 50 nationally earlier this season and enter the PBC tournament as the seventh seed. USC Aiken will be the #8 seed but enter the tournament having won four of their last five matches and have played seven nationally-ranked teams this season.

UNC Pembroke is the #9 seed but also come into the tournament playing will with wins in three of their last four. North Georgia will the 10th seed while Georgia Southwestern will make their first PBC Tournament appearance as the 11th seed after moving up to full Division II status last summer.

The PBC Tournament format has changed for 2009 in that there will be no back draw on the bracket. The tournament will begin with three matches on Friday at 11:00 am and continue on to the championship match on Sunday at 12:00.

PBC Tournament Bracket (PDF)