April 16, 2002

BOCA RATON, FL - The Florida Atlantic University men's and women's tennis teams head to Macon, GA this week for the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament. The men's team is the no. 2 seed while the women's team is no. 3 as both will be seeking A-Sun Championships and automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament.

On the men's side, the Owls will try to defend their title of a year ago. FAU finished the regular season with a 16-4 record and a no. 53 national ranking. Doug Devriendt, last year's A-Sun Player-of-the-Year, leads the team this year at the no. 1 singles position where he is 9-5. Overall, Devriendt is 15-6. Fellow senior Martin Jirak has posted a 13-3 record while Cristian Paiz (14-5) and F.J. Schofield (14-3) have also put together solid seasons.

On the women's side, the Lady Owls will be seeking their first A-Sun title. Last year, they advanced to the championship match before falling to Campbell by a close 4-3 score. This year, the team has posted a 14-6 regular season record and its first ever Division I national ranking. FAU edged as high as no. 67 in the poll. Alena Dvorakova leads the team with a no. 110 national ranking and a 21-7 overall record, 15-4 at no. 1 singles. Tania Rivera posted an 18-10 season record while Karolina Roubickova was 17-2.

The tournament schedule has both the men's and women's teams playing Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals. The men will face the winner of Thursday's match between Troy State and Mercer while the women will take on the winner of the Stetson-Campbell match from Thursday. The tournament continues with semifinal action on Saturday prior to Sunday's championship matches.

Women's A-Sun Tournament Bracket

Men's A-Sun Tournament Bracket