GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's tennis team has earned the number three seed in the South Atlantic Conference Championship tournament, which will be held April 15-17 at the Palmetto Tennis Center in Sumter, South Carolina.
The Pioneers (14-3, 9-2 SAC) will carry a five-match winning streak into their quarterfinal contest against sixth-seeded Lincoln Memorial (7-9, 6-6 SAC) on Thursday at noon. The winner will advance to Friday's semifinals, with the championship match scheduled for Saturday at noon.
Tusculum is making its ninth consecutive appearance in the SAC Championship tournament, and is seeking its first championship since 2008 and third overall. Lincoln Memorial is in the SAC tournament for the first time since 2018, and previously won the championship in 2010 and 2013.
Thursday's meeting will be the third in the SAC Tournament between the Pioneers and the Railsplitters, with Tusculum winning 5-3 in the 2018 quarterfinals and Lincoln Memorial earning a 5-1 win in the 2017 quarterfinals.
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
The Pioneers' only conference losses during the season came by identical 4-3 scores to Queens on March 20 in Charlotte and to Wingate at home on March 26. Tusculum had five 7-0 wins in conference play, and earned a 4-3 victory against UNC Asheville in an exhibition match on Feb. 25.
Tusculum compiled an impressive 56-10 record in conference singles play during the 2021 season, led by freshman Dmitry Bezborodov at flight one. The Almaty, Kazakhstan native owns a 15-2 overall record and is 9-1 in conference play, including 4-1 in three-set matches.
Freshman Nemanja Subanovic has a 10-5 overall record primarily at number-two singles, and is 6-3 in conference competition. The product of Subotica, Serbia has a 2-2 record in three-set matches and has not lost back-to-back all season.
Junior Frank Bonacia has been reliable at flight three for the Pioneers, matching Bezborodov with a 15-2 overall record. Bonacia was 10-1 in conference matches and has a 10-2 record at flight three this season. The native of Rome, Italy has a 29-5 set record this spring and is 3-0 in tiebreakers.
Sophomore Leon Huck has been dominant at flight four for the Pioneers, going 11-0 at the position as part of a 13-2 overall record. Huck went 10-0 in conference play and has won 12 straight matches heading into the postseason. The Forchheim, Germany native is undefeated in tiebreakers, going 4-0 in set tiebreakers and 2-0 in 10-point breakers. Four of Huck's wins this season came after he lost the first set.
Senior Manuel Guedes de Almeida has played primarily at flight five for the Pioneers, finishing the regular season with an 8-5 overall record. Almeida, who hails from Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, has the most career wins of any player on the Tusculum roster, owning a career singles mark of 23-12.
At flight six, junior Kenta Kondou has seen the majority of the action and has compiled a 10-1 overall record, including 6-1 in conference play. The Saitama, Japan native has been sidelined since March 26, allowing junior Vadzim Raitsou to slide into the lineup and win three straight matches while losing a total of 10 games across six sets. Raitsou, from Mogilev, Belarus, is 4-1 this season and 20-10 in his Pioneer career.
In doubles, Subanovic and Bonacia are 6-2 at flight one and have a 6-1 conference record, while Bezborodov and Huck have teamed to go 7-1 at flight two with five straight wins. At flight three, four different pairings have combined for a 9-8 record, with Almeida and junior Jacco Mensinga teaming up for a 2-2 record over the last four matches.
SCOUTING THE RAILSPLITTERS
Lincoln Memorial enters the SAC Tournament with wins in six of their last eight matches following a 1-7 start. The Railsplitters have played just twice in April, winning 4-3 at Coker on April 3 and defeating Newberry 7-0 in the final regular-season match on Sunday.
Senior Iker Moure played the entire season at flight one for the Railsplitters and compiled a 5-7 record, with junior Fabian Sjokvist going 2-7 at flight two and 3-7 overall. At flight three, junior Sebastian Colla has gone 2-5 as part of a 4-10 season, with graduate student Jake Tuchmann the team's leading winner at 9-6 overall and 5-3 at flight four. Freshman Thom Hermans has an 8-7 overall record and is 4-5 at flight five, while freshman Luca Pavan has gone 7-3 at flight six and has a season mark of 8-4.
In doubles, Moore and Tuchmann have gone 3-0 at flight one, Sjokvist and Colla have put together a 2-0 record at flight two and Pavan has teamed with Thomas Turner for a 7-2 record at flight three.
SERIES HISTORY
Lincoln Memorial has a 13-11 lead in the all-time series against the Pioneers, although Tusculum has won four straight matches including a 7-0 victory at Harrogate on March 6 in which the Pioneers did not lose a set.
SAC TOURNAMENT
The 2021 South Atlantic Conference Men's Tennis Championship will be played at the Palmetto Tennis Center in Sumter, S.C. beginning with quarterfinals on Thursday, followed by semifinals on Friday and finals on Saturday. All matches will begin at noon each day. Due to COVID-19 protocols, the Palmetto Tennis Center will not be allowing spectators into the venue during the championship.
The Conference Championship schedule is as follows:
Thursday, April 15
Match 1: #8 Limestone vs. #1 Wingate
Match 2: #5 Anderson vs. #4 Lenoir-Rhyne
Match 3: #7 Carson-Newman vs. #2 Queens
Match 4: #6 Lincoln Memorial vs. #3 Tusculum
Friday, April 16
Match 5: Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2
Match 6: Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4
Saturday, April 17
Match 7: Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6
