Semifinal Friday at Sanlando Park

Welcome to Semifinal Friday at the 2010 NCAA Division II Tennis Championships at Sanlando Park. This morning the top-ranked Lady Pirates face off against No. 9 Hawai'i Pacific. Side note: I apologize if I mis-place the ' in Hawai'i - us mainlanders have a hard time with spellings! The other semifinal pits Lynn and BYU-Hawai'i. Since 1995, only three schools have won the NCAA DII Women's Tennis National Championship, and all three are in action today - AASU, Lynn and BYU-Hawai'i. The Lynn-BYUH match is the NCAA.com TV match, but live stats will be in action today for AASU vs. Hawai'i Pacific.

As promised, a few notes from the AASU men's tennis run over the last three years. In 2008, the Pirates won 30 matches for first time since 1985 (when AASU was Division I and a member of the Big South Conference) ... and then proceeded to win 30+ each of the next two seasons for 91 wins in 94 matches in the span. AASU was 30-2 this season - and was 24-2 against teams ranked in the ITA's Top 35, meaning they played just six matches against unranked opponents this season. And perhaps the best note of all - AASU loses just one player from the starting six this season, senior Paul Fitzgerald, who in two seasons went 48-2 in singles play during the dual match season after joining AASU from Abraham Baldwin.