GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's tennis team will play Lincoln Memorial University in the quarterfinal round of the South Atlantic Conference Championship tournament on Thursday, April 18 at the Palmetto Tennis Center in Sumter, South Carolina.
The Pioneers earned the fourth seed in the bracket after finishing the regular season with a 9-3 conference record and a 16-6 overall mark. The Railsplitters tied for fifth place with Lenoir-Rhyne at 7-5 in league play, but took the fifth seed on a head-to-head tiebreaker.
Thursday's match will begin at 9 a.m., with the winner advancing to the semifinals on Friday at 9 a.m. against the winner of the match between eighth-seeded Coker and top-seeded Wingate. The championship match will be played Saturday at 9 a.m.
Tusculum beat Lincoln Memorial 4-3 in their regular-season meeting on March 20 at Lincoln Memorial, extending the Pioneers' winning streak over the Railsplitters to eight consecutive victories. Tusculum is 2-1 all-time in the SAC quarterfinals against Lincoln Memorial, including a 4-0 victory in 2021.
The Pioneers advanced to the SAC Championship match last season, falling in the finals to Wingate by a 4-2 score. Tusculum has won its quarterfinal round match each of the last three years and four of the last five seasons.
PIONEER PREVIEW
Senior Nemanja Subanovic (Subotica, Serbia) has played at flight one singles for the majority of the season for the Pioneers, compiling an 8-12 overall record and a 4-6 mark in SAC play. The four-year starter has a 46-40 career singles record for the Pioneers.
Sophomore Will Gee (Faversham, England) and freshman Anton Krondell (Helsingborg, Sweden) have split time at flights two and three for the Pioneers this season. Gee is 15-12 overall, 10-11 in dual matches and 5-6 in SAC competition, while Krondell leads the team in singles wins with a 16-10 record, including 12-8 in dual matches and 6-3 in conference.
Freshman Rens Verhaar (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) has a 13-7 singles record and is 4-4 in conference play, with senior Ivan Ivars (Alicante, Spain) going 10-10 in all matches and 5-7 in SAC competition. Freshman Tijn van Gorkom (Heemstede, The Netherlands) is 6-2 in singles and has a 3-2 record in conference play.
Junior Yuki Ikeda (Tokyo, Japan) has a 12-6 record this season and is 5-2 in conference matches, primarily at flight six. Sophomore Sarthak Sharma (Haryana, India) is 10-5 in singles with a 3-2 record in conference action.
Gee and Krondell have moved into the top spot in the doubles lineup for the Pioneers, with a 4-2 record as a duo. Subanovic and junior Miles Ray (Cheltenham, England) are 5-2 as a pairing this season with a 3-2 record in conference matches. Verhaar and van Gorkom have been a consistent pair at flight three, where they have an 11-5 record and an 8-3 mark in SAC action.
South Atlantic Conference Men's Tennis Championship
at Sumter, South Carolina (Palmetto Tennis Center)
Thursday, April 18 (quarterfinals)
Match 1: #8 Coker vs. #1 Wingate, 9 a.m.
Match 2: #5 Lincoln Memorial vs. #4 Tusculum, 9 a.m.
Match 3: #7 Limestone vs. #2 Catawba, 9 a.m.
Match 4: #6 Lenoir-Rhyne vs. #3 Carson-Newman, 9 a.m.
Friday, April 19 (semifinals)
Match 5: Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2, 9 a.m.
Match 6: Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4, 9 a.m.
Saturday, April 20 (finals)
Match 7: Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6, 9 a.m.
