SPARTANBURG, S.C.--USC Aiken's women's tennis team fell in the first round of the 2004 Peach Belt Conference Tournament today in Spartanburg, S.C. The ninth seeded and 30th ranked Lady Pacers lost 5-3 to eighth seeded Augusta State. The Lady Jaguars, ranked number 32 in NCAA Division II, advance to face top seeded Armstrong Atlantic State University later today while USCA will play for ninth place tomorrow at 4:30 p.m.

USC Aiken falls to 11-11 on the season while Augusta State improves its record to 15-7. Both teams finished the regular season with 3-7 conference marks. The Lady Pacers' next opponent will not be determined until after Friday's 8:00 a.m. match.

ASU used two wins in the three doubles matches to snatch an early lead. Ana Skafar and Norma Rovira defeated the USCA team of Mayra Kaefer and Dominique Cassetori, 8-2, in the number one doubles match. Nicole Copp and Otavia Bastos teamed to give the Lady Pacers an 8-0 win in the number two doubles match.

The Lady Jaguars earned straight set victories in the number one and number three singles matches while USC Aiken won the number four and number five singles matches in straight sets. Skafar and Rovira defeated Kaefer and Copp for ASU, respectively. Bastos and Elly Toth beat Maria Zevallos and Ashley Abrams, respectively. 

The key point in the match came in the number two singles slot. USCA's Cassetori took a lead by winning the first set over Patricia Zurita, 6-3. Zurita came back to take the second set 6-2 and then gave Augusta State the win by beating Cassetori in the third set, 6-3.

Augusta State defeats USC Aiken 5-3
Singles:
#1 Ana Skafar (ASU) defeats Mayra Kaefer (USCA) 6-3, 6-2
#2 Patricia Zurita (ASU) defeats Dominique Cassetori (USCA) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
#3 Norma Rovira (ASU) defeats Nicole Copp (USCA) 7-5, 6-2
#4 Otavia Bastos (USCA) defeats Maria Zevallos (ASU) 6-0, 6-2
#5 Elly Toth (USCA) defeats Ashley Abrams (ASU) 6-4, 6-1
#6 Patricia Lozano (ASU) vs. Monica Budnichuk (USCA) Did Not Finish

Doubles: 
#1 Skafar/Rovira (ASU) defeats Kaefer/Cassetori (USCA) 8-2
#2 Copp/Bastos (USCA) defeats Abrams/Zevallos (ASU) 8-0
#3 Zurita/Lozano (ASU) defeats Toth/Heather Thornton (USCA) 8-4