ROCK HILL, S.C. --- The South Atlantic Conference has unveiled its 2022 Women's Tennis preseason coaches poll and All-Conference teams, with Tusculum University earning sixth in the rankings and placing two players on the All-SAC squad.

Senior Emilie Hansen was picked second-team All-SAC in singles and joined junior Rory Church on the doubles second team, as voted upon by the media relations offices at each conference school. The Pioneers are picked sixth by the league's 13 head coaches after going 11-8 last season and finishing 7-5 in SAC play.

First-year head coach Matt Frost brings back three full-time starters in singles along with the Church/Hansen doubles pairing, and welcomes a trio of freshmen to the squad which opens its spring season on Saturday, Feb. 5 against North Georgia at the Nichols Tennis Complex.

Hansen was second-team All-SAC in doubles last season after going 18-2 for the Pioneers and 12-0 in South Atlantic Conference matches. Hansen finished the season with 13 straight victories in doubles, four coming while playing with Church. In singles, Hansen was 12-9 overall and 8-4 in conference play, while playing at flights two, three and four. The Hvidovre, Denmark native was 6-5 in singles in the fall and has a career record of 41-36.

Church has a 16-1 career doubles record entering the spring, after going 6-0 last season and 7-1 this fall. The Kennesaw, Georgia native is 7-1 in her career as Hansen's doubles partner.

Wingate, which swept the regular season at 11-0 and won the conference tournament en route to a 16-2 final record, received 11 first-place votes and 143 points in the preseason balloting. Queens (12-4, 9-2 SAC) earned a first-place vote and 135 points for second place, with Newberry (12-7, 7-5) taking the other first-place vote and placing third with 124 points. Carson-Newman (13-7, 8-4 SAC) is fourth with 121 points, trailed by Lenoir-Rhyne (11-4, 9-3) with 109 points and the Pioneers with 96 points in sixth.

Anderson (9-5, 5-5 SAC) is seventh in the voting with 95 points, with Limestone (11-7, 7-5) in eighth with 83 points and Lincoln Memorial (6-7, 5-4) in ninth with 76. Tenth place was Catawba (5-10, 2-9 SAC) with 60 points, with Mars Hill (3-11, 2-10) at 49 points, Coker (0-12, 0-9) with 43 points and UVA Wise (2-14, 0-11) rounding out the voting with 36 points.

2022 SAC Women's Tennis Preseason Poll

2022 SAC Women's Tennis Preseason All-Conference
First Team Doubles
Natasha Forrest / Hannah Price, Carson-Newman
Caity Klaassen / Viktorija Veselinova, Queens
Anna Greer / Katie Robeson, Anderson

Second Team Doubles
Emilie Hansen/Rory Church, Tusculum
Nastassia Chamoun/Lucy Spice, Newberry

First Team Singles
Anna Greer, Anderson
Ana Carla Resende, Carson-Newman
Judit Gonzalez Agud, Newberry
Gemma Southwick, Lenoir-Rhyne
Valentina Ascarrunz, Lincoln Memorial
Elena Gunfaus, Wingate

Second Team Singles
Flaminia Guidantoni, Wingate
Camilla Ciaccia, Wingate
Viktorija Veselinova, Queens
Grace Forbes, Queens
Emilie Hansen, Tusculum
Alicia Wahlberg, Lenoir-Rhyne