SAVANNAH, Ga. – Seven of the eight top-seeded teams at the
2008 Peach Belt Conference Tennis Championships after the first day of
action on Friday at the AASU Tennis Complex in Savannah. Host Armstrong
Atlantic State, the top seed in both brackets, did not drop a point in
their first-round wins.
        The top-ranked and top-seeded AASU men (23-0) advanced on Friday
with a 5-0 victory over eighth-seeded North Georgia (6-11). The Pirates
will advance to the semifinals to face the only upset winner on Friday,
the fifth-seeded Columbus State Cougars (13-9), who picked up a 5-3 win
over fourth-seeded Francis Marion (14-5). 
        Second-seeded Lander (16-5) defeated No. 7 seed Augusta State
(14-8) in the other half of the bracket, while third-seeded GCSU (15-5)
took out sixth-seeded USC Aiken (11-7). The semifinal matches will begin
at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.
        On the women’s side, top-seeded AASU (24-1) cruised past
Lander (12-10), 6-0, in the final match of the day. Lander earned a
berth in the quarterfinals with a 5-1 win over ninth-seeded North
Georgia (8-12) earlier in the day. The Lady Pirates’ semifinal
opponent will be No. 4 seed Columbus State (18-6), a 5-1 winner over
fifth-seeded GCSU (14-7).
        The second half of the women’s bracket has second-seeded
Clayton State (19-2) on a collision course with third-seeded Francis
Marion (19-1). The Lakers downed seventh-seeded USC Aiken (11-9) for
their berth in the semis, as the Lady Pacers knocked off 10th-seeded UNC
Pembroke (8-12), 5-0, in the day’s first match. FMU took out
sixth-seeded Augusta State (15-7) to advance to face Clayton State –
the two teams did not meet in the regular season because of multiple
occurrences of inclement weather.
        The semifinals will begin at Noon and live stats coverage of
both the men’s and women’s semifinals will be available on the
internet at the official web site of the 2008 PBC Tennis Championships,
http://www.athletics.armstrong.edu/2008PBCTennis.html .