FLORENCE, SC – Both the Francis Marion University men’s and women’s tennis teams will travel to Savannah, Ga., this weekend for the Peach Belt Conference Tournaments.

The double-elimination tournaments will be hosted by Armstrong Atlantic State University, with some matches being played at the Savannah Country Day School.

The ninth-ranked Francis Marion women, coming off their most successful regular-season ever with an 18-1 record, are the third seed after losing a tie-breaker with Clayton State University. The Patriots will face 26th-ranked and sixth-seeded Augusta State University (15-6) on Friday at 8 a.m. at the AASU Tennis Complex.

Francis Marion beat ASU 7-2 during the regular season and has won each of the past five meetings with the Lady Jaguars.

Sophomore Tereza Sykorova occupies the No. 1 singles spot for FMU with a 16-1 record and a No. 10 national ranking. Senior Sarka Vitkova is ranked 25th in singles with a 15-2 mark and along with senior Jenny Ludwig is ranked 13th in doubles play with a 12-5 record.

The 19th-ranked FMU men enter the tournament as the fourth seed with a 14-4 overall record. The Patriots will face 21st-ranked and fifth-seeded Columbus State University (12-9) at 11:30 a.m. on Friday at the Savannah Country Day School courts.

The Patriots edged the Cougars 5-4 in their regular-season meeting and have won each of the past four matches with CSU, the last three all by narrow 5-4 margins.

Senior Franklyn Emmanuel plays No. 1 singles for FMU. He is ranked 19th nationally with a 13-4 record, while freshman Oshada Wijemanne is ranked 45th in singles play with a 13-3 mark. Emmanuel owns a 57-14 career singles record. The two play doubles together and are ranked 24th nationally with an 11-4 record.

In the women’s draw, host AASU (23-1) is the No.1 seed after winning its fifth straight PBC regular-season championship. On the men’s side, Armstrong Atlantic State (22-0) is also the top seed after going undefeated this season. The Pirate men are the top-ranked team in Division II, while the AASU women are ranked second nationally.

The women’s and men’s championship matches are scheduled for Sunday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. respectively on the AASU campus.

Neither FMU tennis team has ever won a PBC Tournament championship. The Patriot men lost in the 2001 title match.

Results can be found on the tournament website at  http://www.athletics.armstrong.edu/2008PBCTennis.html