SAVANNAH, GA – The second-ranked and top-seeded Armstrong Atlantic State University women's tennis team captured a fifth straight Peach Belt Conference Tournament title with a 5-1 defeat of ninth-ranked and third-seeded Francis Marion University, Sunday (April 20) in Savannah spoiling the Patriots' first-ever trip to the championship match.

Francis Marion (20-2) made the doubles interesting as the duo of Magda Jezovicova and Tereza Sykorova rallied from 6-1 down to defeat Sofia Haggstrom and Alisa Kagukina 8-6 at No. 3 doubles. The AASU doubles duo of Iuliia Stupak and Gabriella Kovacs earned a comfortable 8-2 win at the No. 1 spot for the Lady Pirates (26-1), but AASU's Martina Beckmann and Alida Muller-Wehlau fought off match point in a tiebreaker to come away with a 9-8 (9-7) win over FMU's Valeska Ibscher and Klara Vitkova at No. 2 doubles.

AASU then won in straight sets at singles spots No. 1, No. 3, and No. 4.  Stupak, the singles MVP, extended her undefeated dual match singles record against Division II opponents to 49-0 with a 6-1, 6-2 win over FMU's Sykorova at the No. 1 position. Muller-Wehlau knocked off Jenny Ludwig 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3 singles and Kovacs picked up a 6-0, 6-3 win over Klara Vitkova at No. 4 singles.

The Patriots, who equaled the school record for wins in a season with Saturday's semifinal win, will now await the announcement of the NCAA Tournament field later this month to see if they receive a third straight at-large invitation.