GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum University won the final four singles matches to defeat 19th-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne University 5-2 in South Atlantic Conference women's tennis action Monday afternoon at the Nichols Tennis Complex.

The Pioneers (11-5, 6-3 SAC) won a pair of three-set matches in singles and won four of the five tiebreakers in the match against the Bears (15-6, 6-4 SAC), who lost their fourth consecutive match following a 13-game winning streak.

Tusculum last beat a Top 20 ranked opponent nearly three years earlier, when the Pioneers defeated 11th-ranked Wingate by a 4-3 score on April 6, 2019. The Pioneers' last win against a ranked opponent was a 4-2 win over Lenoir-Rhyne in the SAC semifinals on April 18, 2019, and broke a streak of 11 straight losses to ranked teams.

The Bears went up 1-0 in doubles, getting the clinching point at flight one as the 32nd-ranked team of Gemma Southwick and Lucy Whelan outlasted Elodie Baechler and Tabitha Howe 7-6 (7-5). Tusculum earned a tiebreaker win at flight two as Leonie Floeth and Paulina Loretz beat Alicia Wahlberg and Diana Babinets by a 7-6 (7-2) score.

In singles, the Pioneers tied the match as Paulina Loretz beat Whelan 6-3, 6-1 at flight four. Lenoir-Rhyne went up 2-1 as Evgeniya Pugina beat Howe 6-2, 6-4 at flight two, but the Pioneers tied it back up at 2-2 as Johanna Palacio came from a set down to beat Evelin Menyhart 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) at flight six.

Tusculum went ahead 3-2 as Baechler paid Southwick back for the tiebreaker loss in doubles by winning both sets in tiebreaker fashion, taking the flight one match by a 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4) score. Valentina Loretz would provide the clinching point with a 6-2, 6-2 win at flight five over Sandy Mitsou, and Floeth capped the win with a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 victory at flight three over Alicia Wahlberg.

The Pioneers will travel to Carson-Newman to face the 20th-ranked Eagles on Wednesday at 2 p.m. The Eagles (12-3, 6-1 SAC) had won 10 straight matches before a 5-2 loss to Wingate on Saturday.