GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum University won five straight singles matches to defeat Lincoln Memorial University 5-2 in South Atlantic Conference men's tennis action Sunday afternoon at the Nichols Tennis Complex.
The 42nd-ranked Pioneers (11-7, 8-3 SAC) trailed 1-0 after doubles, but reeled off four consecutive victories in straight sets to defeat the 64th-ranked Railsplitters (12-11, 5-6 SAC).
Lincoln Memorial won the first and third doubles matches to take the team point, with Tusculum's number-two team of Frank Bonacia and Kenta Kondou defeating Luca Pavan and Harper Mills by a 6-3 score.
In singles, Tusculum leveled the match at 1-1 as Kondou beat William Jonsson 6-2, 6-3 at flight four. Vadzim Raitsou earned a 6-2, 6-2 win at flight six over Pavan for a 2-1 Pioneer lead, and Robin Eldin defeated Sebastian Colla 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) at flight two for a 3-1 Tusculum advantage.
Bonacia delivered the clinching point as the 58th-ranked player in Division II singles defeated Thom Hermans 6-3, 6-3 at flight one. Nemanja Subanovic claimed a 3-6, 6-3, (10-2 tiebreaker) win over Fabian Sjokvist at flight three to give Tusculum a 5-1 lead, before the Railsplitters' Franco Battaglino downed Miles Ray 1-6, 6-2, (11-9 tiebreaker) at flight five to close the match.
Tusculum will conclude its regular season on Tuesday, April 12 at UVA Wise, beginning at 3 p.m. The Cavaliers are 5-14 overall and winless in nine SAC matches, dropping each contest by a 7-0 score.