After earlier being named the ITA Player To Watch from the Southeast Region, Florida Southern's Michael Knoedler has been named the ITA National Player to Watch.  The Player to Watch Award goes to a player who had an outstanding season and is expected to perform at a high level the rest of his career.  The award criteria also includes a player's sportsmanship and character.  It's the second straight year Knoedler has received the award.

Knoedler, a junior, led the Moccasins to a 17-9 record and a spot in the Southeast Regional finals.  The two-time Sunshine State Conference Men's Player of the Year, he was 18-3 in singles, all at #1, and ranked third in Division II.  In doubles, he was 18-5 teamed with Roman Schirmaier and ranked ninth in Division II.  His career singles record is 51-14 and his career doubles record is 55-18.  

BOCA RATON - Tenth-ranked Florida Southern battled sixth-ranked Lynn through three close singles matches, but the Fighting Knights prevailed in all three to register a 5-1 win in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional finals at Boca Raton on Saturday. The loss ends FSC's season with a record of 17-9. Lynn advances to the Men's Division II Championship next week at Houston, Texas.

FSC's ninth-ranked doubles team of Michael Knoedler and Roman Schirmaier topped fourth-ranked Lorenzo Cava and Tomas Racak, 8-4, at No. 1 doubles, but the Knights captured the other two doubles matches, 8-6 and 8-3, to take a 2-1 lead.

Lynn's Alessandro Sarra downed Justin LeFlamme, 6-3, 7-5, at No. 5. Racak edged Alex Thesleff, 6-4, 7-5, at No. 3 and 14th-ranked Julien Carsuzaa got past Schirmaier, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 2 to clinch the match. The remaining three singles matches went unfinished.

BOCA RATON - Florida Southern advanced to the finals of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional at Boca Raton on Friday with a 5-1 victory over #40 Mars Hill. The 10th-ranked Moccasins (17-8) will meet sixth-ranked Lynn (17-5) in the regional championship Saturday at 1 p.m. Lynn blanked Newberry 5-0 in Friday's other match.

Against Mars Hill, FSC's top two doubles teams were victorious, with the ninth-ranked No. 1 doubles team of Michael Knoedler and Roman Schirmaier boosting its record to 17-5 and the No. 2 doubles team of Guenther Fercher and Alez Thesleff raising its record to 17-6. In the singles competition, the Moccasins received straight set wins from Ben Taylor at No. 6 and Fercher at No. 4 before Knoedler, ranked third in Division II, closed out the match with a 6-2, 6-2 win to raise his record to 18-3.

Saturday's meeting with Lynn will be the third of the season for the Moccasins. Lynn won 7-2 in the regular season and 5-2 in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament semifinals.

Armed with the latest ITA Division II rankings, coach Trey Heath's Moccasins head to Boca Raton for the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional starting Friday.  The Moccasins moved up from 14th to10th in the latest rankings and Michael Knoedler, the two-time Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year, moved from fifth to third in singles.

The Moccasins, 16-8, meet #40 Mars Hill in their opening match Friday at 3 p.m.  Lynn, which is ranked sixth, plays unranked Newberry at noon in the opening match.  Friday's winners will play Saturday at 1 p.m. for the regional title.

In addition to Knoedler, who is 17-3, being ranked third in singles, Roman Schirmaier is ranked 49th.  The doubles team of Knoedler and Schirmaier, which is 16-5, is ranked ninth in Division II.

For the second straight year, the Moccasins' Michael Knoedler is the Sunshine State Conference Men's Player of the Year.  The junior from Gaildorf, Germany, currently is ranked fifth in Division II in singles with a 17-3 record, all at #1.  He went 5-0 against SSC competition this spring and is 7-2 against nationally-ranked opponents.  His career singles record at FSC is 50-14.  In addition to being Player of the Year and a first-team All-SSC selection in singles, Knoedler and teammate Roman Schirmaier were a first-team All-SSC selection in doubles.  They are 16-5 this season and ranked 11th in Division II.  Schirmaier was a second-team All-SSC selection in singles, where he compiled a 13-6 record.

The Moccasins, ranked 14th in Division II, are 16-8 and will meet Mars Hill in their first match of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional at Boca Raton May 9-10.  That match will be at 3 p.m. May 9, with the winner to face the winner of the Lynn/Newberry match in the regional final May 10 at 1 p.m..

LAKELAND - Florida Southern's first-round match in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament turned into a run-away victory Thursday afternoon. The Moccasins were never challenged in doubles or singles play as they swept to a 6-0 win over Eckerd to advance to Friday's semifinals.

Florida Southern (15-7) took its three doubles matches in quick succession by scores of 8-3, 8-1 and 8-3. The Mocs then got a 6-0, 6-0 win from Ben Taylor before Michael Knoedler and J.J. Bolock ended their matches at the same time, also in straight sets.

The Moccasins lost only one point in those three singles matches as they had their first postseason shutout since a 5-0 win over Presbyterian in the first round of the 2002 Southeast Region Tournament. It was the Mocs' first shutout in the conference tournament since 1997 when they blanked Florida Tech 9-0.

Florida Southern's win puts it in the semifinals against Lynn on Friday at 4:30 p.m. Top-seeded Barry will face Rollins in the other semifinal match, also at 4:30.

SAVANNAH, GA - Playing its final match of the regular season, 14th-ranked Florida Southern lost to top-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State 9-0 on Sunday. The Moccasins (14-7) and Pirates (22-0) were playing a match that was originally rained out in mid-February.

With a lineup that featured five of the top 41 players in Division II, Armstrong Atlantic State picked up its seventh shutout of the season. The Pirates started with an 8-1 victory at number three doubles from Paul Bishop and Davor Zink, a combination that's gone 20-1 this season. Zink would also improve to 20-1 in singles play with a victory over J.J. Bolock at the number six position, but Zink was the only Pirate in the lineup not in the national rankings.

AASU would go on to win four more singles matches in straight sets, with only Robert Jendelund going three. Ranked #23 in the nation, Jendelund was pushed to the limit by Alex Thesleff at the number two position, but held on for a 6-3, 6-7, 10-6 victory.

Seventh-ranked Tim Johannsen also earned a win for the Pirates at number one, downing #49 Roman Schirmaier 6-2, 6-3.

The Moccasins held out Michael Knoedler, their normal player at the number one position.

Florida Southern begins play in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament on Thursday in Lakeland.

#14 FLORIDA SOUTHERN DOUBLES UP #9 ROLLINS, 6-3

LAKELAND - Saturday's match with Rollins College was the type of match where All-Americans are expected to lead. Michael Knoedler did just that. He got plenty of help too as the 14th-ranked Moccasins downed the #9 Tars, 6-3, their second win over a top-ten team this year.

Florida Southern (14-6, 4-2) jumped on Rollins by taking all three doubles matches, including an 8-4 win at the number one position. That came from Knoedler and Roman Schirmaier, ranked #11 in the country in doubles. Now 15-4 as playing partner, they handed the 3rd-ranked team of Brian Compton and Jonathan Gomez only their second loss of the season and ended their 11-match winning streak.

The Tars (14-5, 3-3) never recovered as Adrian Tan was forced to retire in his match, giving Alex Thesleff another point for the Moccasins, before Guenther Fercher clinched the win with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Pablo Seijo at the number four position.

Knoedler then finished things off by rallying for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Compton at number one. His seventh win over a ranked opponent improved his personal record to 16-2. Compton was ranked #15, giving Knoedler (#5) a 4-0 mark against players ranked 15th or higher.

Rollins earned two of its points with three-set victories from Gomez and Gustavo Carvalho. Carvalho's win over Ben Taylor came in a third-set tie-breaker, 10-8.

Florida Southern will end the regular season on Sunday with a make-up match at top-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State beginning at 2:00. The Moccasins then begin play in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament on Thursday as the #3 seed.

MOCS FALL TO NAIA POWER EMBRY-RIDDLE

DAYTONA BEACH - The Moccasins ran into NAIA power Embry-Riddle Thursday and dropped an 8-1 decision at Daytona Beach.  Embry-Riddle, ranked third in NAIA, improved to 13-2.  The Moccasins, ranked 14th in NCAA Division II, slipped to 13-6.

Roman Schirmaier, who is ranked 29th in Div. II singles, gave FSC its only win with a three-set, 5-7, 6-4, 10-2, win over Konstantin Lazarov, who is ranked ninth in NAIA.  With the win, Schirmaier improved his record to 13-3.  The Moccasins' Michael Knoedler, ranked fifth in Div. II singles, saw his 12-match winning streak halted by Mislav Hizak, the top-ranked singles player in NAIA, 6-0, 6-0.  The loss was only the second in 17 matches this season for Knoedler.

The Moccasins play their final home match and final SSC match Saturday at 10:30 a.m. against Rollins on the FSC courts, then they'll drive to Savannah, Ga., for a 2 p.m. Sunday match against top-ranked Armstrong Atlantic to complete their regular season.