Lady Pirates Visit WTOC-TV's "Mid Morning Live" On Thursday

Martina Beckmann, Alida Muller-Wehlau and Alisa Kagukina visited with Jody Chapin and Mike Cihla on WTOC TV's "Mid-Morning Live" on Thursday morning, talking about their three straight NCAA Division II National Championships !

The trio showed off the trophies, chatted about the hard work they've put in not only this season but over the last three years and also talked about their future plans - of course Alida will be back next year with the Lady Pirates, but Martina has been accepted to graduate school and will be continuing her studies here in Savannah.

Remember, tomorrow morning you can hear head coach Simon Earnshaw on WTKS 1290 AM as he speaks with Bill Edwards and Karl DeMasi at 7:07 a.m.

Celebration Continues For AASU Women's Tennis !

The 2010 AASU Women's Tennis squad has returned to Savannah and started to garner media attention here in the Coastal Empire. But first, view a video produced by the AASU Media Productions department chronicling the national championship !

WSAV-TV 3's Ken Slats filed this report from the welcome back ceremonies on Sunday. Coming up on Thursday, Alida Muller-Wehlau, Martina Beckmann and Alisa Kagukina will go to WTOC-TV 11 and appear on "Mid Morning Live with Sonny & Jody" at 9:30 a.m. Friday morning, head coach Simon Earnshaw will appear on WTKS 1290 AM with Bill Edwards and Karl DeMasi bright and early at 7:07 a.m. !

EDIT: Thanks to the NCAA (and especially Bonnie Senappe!) now the NCAA.com's women's tennis page features a pic of Gabriella Kovacs with the championship story!

Lady Pirates Return To Savannah !

The three-time NCAA DII National Champion Armstrong Atlantic State Lady Pirates returned to Savannah with yet another trophy in tow. Today at the AASU Tennis Complex, the public got a chance to welcome back the Lady Pirates; coaches and players enjoyed refreshments and also met with the local media. An enthusiastic group of around 50 welcomed back the Lady Pirates - an event that never gets old !

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, THREE STRAIGHT! No. 1 Lady Pirates Complete 5-1 Win Over BYU-Hawaii

The "three-peat" is intact for the Armstrong Atlantic State University Lady Pirates ! And just as it was a year ago, senior Gabriella Kovacs provided the match-clinching moment as she beat Shawni Porter, 6-2, 6-2, at No. 4 singles to give AASU their sixth NCAA Division II Women's Tennis National Championship !

Singles play began with the Lady Pirates taking four of the first six sets. Sona Novakova and Martina Beckmann, who dropped their first sets, rallied to split sets, then No. 49-ranked Kathleen Henry beat Sophia Simmons, 6-2, 6-4, to give AASU its first singles point. No. 21-ranked Tina Ronel followed with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Ayako Ikeda at No. 3 singles, and less an two minutes later, Kovacs finished off Porter for the match victory!

AASU now joins a select group of DII schools to earn three consecutive NCAA Division II Women's Tennis titles - Chattanooga (1983-85), SIU Edwardsville (1986-89) and Saturday's opponent, BYU-Hawaii (2002-04).

Tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m., AASU will host a championship celebration for the Lady Pirates at Alumni Arena. So come out and greet the Lady Pirates as they bring home the National Championship trophy to Savannah for a third straight year !

Lady Pirates Take 2-1 Lead After Doubles In Championship

The top-ranked two-time defending NCAA DII national champion Armstrong Atlantic State Lady Pirates have taken a 2-1 lead after doubles play here on Saturday morning at Sanlando Park over No. 3 BYU-Hawai'i.

The seventh-ranked doubles duo of Gabriella Kovacs and Sona Novakova struck first for AASU, defeating No. 24-ranked Ayako Ikeda and Shawni Porter, 8-4, at No. 2 doubles. BYU-Hawai'i got on the board at No. 3 doubles as Jenny Chin and Salina Aranda knocked off No. 23-ranked Kathleen Henry and Tina Ronel, 8-2.

All eyes shifted to No. 1 doubles where No. 3-ranked Alida Muller-Wehlau and Martina Beckmann (pictured) took out the top-ranked duo of Yuan Jia and Elwin Li, 8-5, for the key 2-1 doubles lead.

Singles play is about to begin, and it's pretty simple from here.. AASU needs three singles wins for their sixth NCAA DII National Championship !

Championship Saturday Is Here!

Welcome back to Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Fla., for the 2010 NCAA Division II Women's Tennis National Championship match between Armstrong Atlantic State and BYU-Hawai'i. This will be the fifth time that these two schools have met with a title on the line, but the last meeting between these two teams came in the 2008 NCAA DII semifinals in Houston, Texas - a 5-1 win by AASU en route to the national title.

You can watch all the action today via NCAA.com's live streaming as well as following along on live stats here. Let's go Pirates !

On To The Finals! AASU Closes Out Hawai'i Pacific, 5-0

After the big lead in doubles, the top-ranked Lady Pirates swept a pair of straight-set singles matches to advance to the 2010 NCAA Division II Women's Tennis National Championship match - the 11th appearance for AASU in the national finals.

Fourth-ranked Alida Muller-Wehlau defeated Nina Mihova, 6-2, 6-0, at No. 2 singles, then Kathleen Henry (pictured) knocked off Sandra Wikstrom, 6-1, 6-4, at No. 5 singles to clinch the victory!

After the win, head coach Simon Earnshaw and four Lady Pirates - Muller-Wehlau, Henry, Martina Beckmann and Tina Ronel - did interviews with CBS in preparation for their spring sports highlight show. Simon also was interviewed by NCAA.com for their recap article today. The rest of the team watched the other semifinal match, where BYU-Hawai'i's senior Jenny Chin outlasted Lynn's Tessie Salame, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2, to give the Seasiders a 5-4 win. So the final is set - AASU will meet BYU-Hawai'i at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday in the national championship match. BYU-Hawai'i has won an NCAA record seven women's tennis DII national titles, and the Lady Pirates have won the second most - five.