Top-ranked Pirates collect 8-1 win over No. 13 Florida Southern

The top-ranked and defending NCAA Division II men's tennis team remained unbeaten on the 2010 season with an 8-1 victory over No. 13-ranked Florida Southern at Bacon Park, and 9-0 Peach Belt Conference (PBC) win over Columbus State (CSU) at the Blackmon Tennis Center in Columbus, Ga.

The Pirates (8-0) handed the Mocs (3-3) their third straight loss – with all three of Florida Southern's losses coming to the top three-ranked teams in the nation.

AASU swept all three doubles matches to take a 3-0 lead, but two of the three were close affairs. The fourth-ranked duo of Rafael Array and Mikk Irdoja edged Michael Knoedler and Roman Schirmaier, 9-7, at No. 1 doubles, while Matus Mydla and Daniel Regan defeated Brian de Montfort and Ben Taylor by the same 9-7 score at No. 2 doubles. Eudaldo Bonet and Paul Fitzgerald knocked off Guenther Fercher and Christian Lange, 8-3, at No. 3 doubles to complete the sweep.

The Pirates then won five of six singles matches – all in straight sets. Seventh-ranked Irdoja defeated 39th-ranked Schirmaier, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 2 singles, while fifth-ranked Array defeated Lange, 6-2, 6-2, at No. 3 singles. Mydla notched a 6-1, 6-3 win over Nicolas Bigler at No. 4 singles and Regan beat C.J. Johnson, 6-4, 6-2, at No. 5 singles. 38th-ranked Fitzgerald defeated Taylor, 6-4, 7-5, at No. 6 singles.

Florida Southern's only point came when Knoedler knocked off Bonet, 7-5, 6-3, at No. 1 singles.

The Pirates (9-0, 5-0 PBC) handed CSU (4-3, 0-1 PBC) its second straight loss to a top 10-ranked foe while keeping its string of consecutive PBC points won alive at 45.

AASU swept all three doubles matches, including a ranked showdown at No. 1 with fourth-ranked Array and Irdoja defeated eighth-ranked Christophe Noblet and Frank Suarez, 9-7. Mydla and Regan notched an 8-4 win over Gordan Divljak and Martin Shiskov, while Bonet and Fitzgerald collected an 8-3 win over Nemanja Djuric and Diego Motivar at No. 3 doubles.

The Pirates then swept all six singles matches in straight sets to complete the victory. Seventh-ranked Irdoja defeated 16th-ranked Suarez, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 1 singles, while Bonet notched a 6-2, 7-5 win over Oliver Simonet at No. 2 singles. Fifth-ranked Array bested Divljak, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 3 singles.

Mydla defeated Noblet, 6-4, 6-2, at No. 4 singles for AASU, with Regan notching a 6-2, 6-0 win over Motivar and 38th-ranked Fitzgerald beating Djuric, 6-4, 6-1, at No. 6 singles.