May 2, 2007

PENSACOLA, Fla. - After only losing three games en route to their ninth Gulf South Conference title on Apr. 22, fourth-ranked West Florida will begin the national tournament at home this week. On Thursday and Friday, West Florida will host the first two rounds of the NCAA Division II National Tournament at the Ralph "Skeeter" Carson Tennis Complex.

Top seed West Florida (17-6) will face forth seed Tuskegee (14-9) on Thursday at 10 a.m. CST. This is the third consecutive season that West Florida and Tuskegee have met in the first round. West Florida has won each of the previous three matches by 5-0 decisions.

Four of the top 45 singles players in the nation are Argonauts. Fifth-ranked Suzana Cavalcante (Sao Paulo, Brazil), the GSC East Division Player of the Year, is 13-4 in first position singles matches. Fifteenth-ranked Tammy Kevey (Auckland, New Zealand) leads the Argonauts with 18 singles wins.

West Florida also claims two of the top 15 doubles teams in Division II. The fourth-ranked duo of Kevey and Mandy Septoe (Port Elizabeth, South Africa) are 15-3 in the first position. Cavalcante and Paola Arevalo (Cali, Colombia), the 15th ranked team in the nation, is 14-5 this season, including 12 wins in the second position.

A victory on Thursday will advance West Florida to the second round against the winner of the match between North Alabama and Harding. Friday's second round match will begin at 2 p.m. CST.