BREVARD, N.C. --- The No. 5 seeded Tusculum College men's tennis team won five of the six singles flights on Monday to stage an impressive come-from-behind 5-4 victory against fourth-seeded Brevard College in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament, advancing to the semifinal round to take on top-seeded Wingate University.

Brevard took an early 3-0 advantage with a sweep of the afternoon's doubles action, highlighted by Cole Altizer and Konstantin Savelyev's 8-3 win over Drew Kiser and Thomas Rees in the first flight. Jarred Fisher and Heikki Riikonen stretched the lead to 2-0 with an 8-4 win over Leo Guaycurus and Henrique Rodrigues, before Andrew Thompson and Nate Lyles completed the doubles sweep with an 8-6 victory over Hunter Beal and Steven Lin.

Rodrigues started the rally with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Savelyev in the first singles flight, and Rees pulled the Pioneers within one point at 3-2 with his second flight win over Riikonen 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6), 6-1. Altizer brought the Tornados within one point on the match win with his third flight 6-0, 6-1 win over Beal, but the Pioneers won the final three flights of the day to claim the victory.

Guaycurus defeated Fisher, 7-5, 6-2, in the fourth flight, and Lin came back to beat Thompson, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 at No. 5 to pull the Pioneers even at 4-4. Kiser then battled through several match points in both the second and third sets of the sixth singles flight before claiming the 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5) win over Shane Apps and push the Pioneers through to the semifinal round.

Defending champion Tusculum will now square off against top-seeded Wingate on Friday at 9 a.m. in Rock Hill, S.C. at the Rock Hill Tennis Center.

- SAC -

Tusculum 5, Brevard 4
Singles
1. Henrique Rodrigues (TC) def. Konstantin Savelyev 6-3, 6-1
2. Thomas Rees (TC) def. Heikki Riikonen 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6), 6-1
3. Cole Altizer (BC) def. Hunter Beal 6-0, 6-1
4. Leo Guaycurus (TC) def. Jarred Fisher 7-5, 6-2
5. Steven Lin (TC) def. Andrew Thompson 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
6. Drew Kiser (TC) def. Shane Apps 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5)

Doubles
1. Savelyev/Altizer (BC) def. Kiser/Rees 8-3
2. Fisher/Riikonen (BC) def. Guaycurus/Rodrigues 8-4
3. Thompson/Nate Lyles (BC) def. Beal/Lin 8-6