Athletics,WT,VitkovaNCAA
Sarka Vitkova at NCAA regional
#2 Pirates blank Francis Marion 5-0 in NCAA regional title match

SAVANNAH, GA – Second-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State University blanked 16th-ranked Francis Marion University 5-0, Friday afternoon (May 4) in the championship match of the NCAA Division II Women’s Tennis Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament.

Francis Marion ends its season 16-8, the second-most wins in school history (bettered only by last year’s 20-6 mark).

AASU (27-0) advances to the national finals, May 9-12, in Altamonte Springs, Fla. AASU will be making its 13th straight appearance in the Round of 16. AASU has also won 114 of its last 116 matches, dating back to 2004. Five of the Pirates’ singles players are ranked among the nation’s Top 50 players.

AASU won quickly at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles, but Francis Marion's top doubles duo of Sarka Vitkova and Jenny Ludwig came up with two key breaks to push the Pirates' top-ranked duo of Dziyana Nazaruk and Iuliia Stupak to the brink. Up 8-7, Nazaruk - the lone senior on the Pirates' squad this season - held serve to pick up the 9-7 win and give AASU a 3-0 advantage heading into singles play.

The Pirates captured the two wins needed to end the match at No. 5 and No. 6 singles. Alisa Kagukina beat Sarah Hickman 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6 singles, and Sofia Haggstrom defeated Elizabeth Lee 6-1, 6-0 at No. 5 to clinch the match.

 

 
2007 NCAA II Women’s Tennis Mid-Atlantic Regional - Championship Match
#2 Armstrong Atlantic State Univ. 5, #16 Francis Marion University 0
 
Singles
1 - #1 Iuliia Stupak (AASU) led Sarka Vitkova (FMU) 6-0, 5-1, match stopped, clinched
2 - #8 Johanna Dahlback (AASU) led Kamini Murugaboopathy (FMU) 6-1, 3-1, match stopped, clinched
3 - #6 Dziyana Nazaruk (AASU) led Jenny Ludwig (FMU) 6-2, 4-1, match stopped, clinched
4 - #29 Gabriella Kovacs (AASU) led Magda Jezovicova (FMU) 6-2, 6-0, match stopped, clinched
5 - #49 Sofia Haggstrom (AASU) def. Elizabeth Lee (FMU) 6-1, 6-0
6 - Alisa Kagukina (AASU) def. Sarah Hickman (FMU) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
1 - #1 Stupak/Nazaruk (AASU) def. Vitkova/Ludwig (FMU) 9-7
2 - #23 Dahlback/Martina Beckmann (AASU) def. Maria Covell/Murugaboopathy (FMU) 8-1
3 - Haggstrom/Kovacs (AASU) def. Lee/Jezovicova (FMU) 8-3

Records: #2 AASU (27-0), #16 Francis Marion (16-8)
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