The NCAA News - News and Features

April 28, 1997

Championships preview -- Division II

Armstrong Atlantic would join elite company by winning third straight title

Event: 1997 NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Championship.

Overview: Armstrong Atlantic is the two-time defending champion and is vying to join Tennessee-Chattanooga (1983 through 1985) and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (1986 through 1989) as the only teams to win three consecutive team titles. The nation's No. 1-ranked team, the Lady Pirates have the depth and experience to repeat as champions. Juniors Jeanine Christian, Sandra van der Aa, Monika Wisser and Laura Nhavene, a former two-time small college champion, lead the team, which won both of its last two titles with shutouts. Christian, Nhavene and van der Aa each are ranked among the nation's top 10 singles players, while Nhavene and van der Aa combine to form the nation's No. 1 doubles tandem .... The biggest threat to Armstrong Atlantic's title reign may come from a team also seeking its third consecutive national title: Lynn. Competing in its first year of NCAA competition, Lynn enters the championships after claiming the last two NAIA team titles. The Lady Knights -- led by Katarina Koldova, the nation's No. 1-ranked singles player -- seem to be as deep and talented as Armstrong Atlantic. Koldova is joined by Ali Peshkin-Schwartz and Sandy Peshkin .... North Florida, Rollins, UC Davis, Denver and Abilene Christian are among teams that also will be in the hunt for the title. Rollins is led by Christie Lemieux and Monika Bonilla.

Field: Regional tournaments will be played at 10 sites (four teams per site in the East, Midwest and South regions and two teams per site in the West region). The 10 regional winners, along with six other teams selected prior to the regionals (two each from the East and West regions and one each from the Midwest and South regions), will advance to the championship site.

Dates and sites: Regional tournaments will be May 2-4. The championship will be May 8-11 at Springfield, Missouri. Southwest Baptist will serve as championship host.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3060 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 1553 for dates and sites, 1554 for bracket/schedule, 5251 for qualifiers, 5252 for first-round results, 5253 for quarterfinals results, 5254 for semifinals results and 5255 for third-place and final results. Regional and championship results also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. Championship results will be published in the May 12 (regional tournaments) and May 19 (finals) issues of The NCAA News.