AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The 2007 Peach Belt Conference men’s and women’s tennis championships will begin on Friday at the Newman Tennis Center in Augusta, Ga. 10 women’s and nine men’s teams will compete for the tournament title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.

On the women’s side, the discussion starts and usually stops with Armstrong Atlantic State. The four-time defending PBC Champions, the Lady Pirates have not lost a match to a PBC team since the 2003 PBC tournament final. This year, AASU is ranked #2 in the country with a 22-0 record and looking for their 13th PBC tournament title. Iuliia Stupak is the #1-ranked singles player in the nation in NCAA Division II and the team of Stupak and Dziyana Nazaruk is the #1-ranked doubles team.

USC Upstate finished the PBC season with a 10-1 mark and enter the PBC Tournament as the second seed. The ninth-ranked Spartans has a run of 15 straight wins earlier this season, but have lost three straight heading into the PBC Tournament. Upstate will look to sophomore sensation Anna Novo who is ranked #16 in the nation.

Columbus State is actually ranked ahead of USC Upstate in the latest ITA poll, coming in at #8 in the nation. The Lady Cougars are the #3 seed in the PBC Tournament with a 9-2 conference record and want to return to the conference championship match for the fourth straight year. Raluca Moldovan plays #1 singles for the Lady Cougars and is ranked #24 in the nation.

The men’s tennis tournament could closely mirror the women’s tournament as Armstrong Atlantic State appears to be the team to beat. The Pirates won their third straight PBC Championship in 2007 and will look for their third straight tournament title this week as the top seed after going 9-0 in PBC play. The Pirates have been fluid in their lineup for most of the season with both Davor Zink and Paul Bishop playing at #1 singles. AASU is currently ranked #3 in the nation.

Lander will begin the PBC Tournament as the #2 seed. The Bearcats, eight-time national champions from 1993-2000, began their resurgence as a PBC power this season, going 8-1 in conference play and are currently ranked eighth in the nation. Sophomore sensation Joakim Karlsson is the highest-ranked singles player in the PBC at #5 nationally after going 8-1 in conference play.

USC Upstate is the third seed in the PBC Tournament after going 7-2 in conference play in 2007. The Spartans fell to both Lander and Armstrong Atlantic State by 5-4 scores and beat #4 Valdosta State 5-4, all in their last four matches. Currently ranked #9 in the nation, the Spartans will look to the duo of senior Stefan Dumitrescu and sophomore Sandy Franz, both of whom are ranked in the top 25 nationally.

The 2007 PBC Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships will begin with three women’s matches at 8:00 am at the Newman Tennis Center in Augusta, Ga. The men’s tournament will begin with two matches at 11:00 am. Play will continue until the championship finals on Sunday at 11:00 am. All matches will be played at the Newman Tennis Center, the tournament is being hosted by Augusta State. Admission to all matches is free.