ROCK HILL, S.C. --- South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year Carlos Garcia (Caracas, Venezuela) accounted for a pair of points as top-seed Tusculum defeated No. 5 Carson-Newman 5-0 in a semifinal match of the 2008 Food Lion SAC Men's Tennis Tournament. The Pioneers (19-1) capture their 13th consecutive win, while the Eagles end their season at 7-6.

TC advances to Saturday's championship match as the Pioneers will face No. 3 Newberry, beginning at noon from the Rock Hill Tennis Center.

Tusculum swept doubles action with three wins, including an 8-6 pro set victory by Garcia and Sergio Espinosa (Caracas, Venezuela) at the top flight, defeating Jack Harvie (Snellville, Ga.) and two-time SAC Scholar Athlete Preston Sneed (Kingsport, Tenn.).

TC also secured doubles points by Leo Guaycurus (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Henrique Rodrigues at No. 2 doubles, while Hunter Beal and Nicolas Bigler (Chernex, Switzerland) were victorious at the third flight.

Garcia also accounted for a 6-1, 6-0 win over Sneed at No. 3 singles, while Rodrigues (Salvador-Bahia, Brazil) won his match against Harvie in straight sets (6-1, 6-0) at No. 4 singles.

In this year's first meeting, Tusculum defeated Newberry by a 6-3 score, earlier this month.

- SAC -

Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men's Tennis Tournament (Semifinal)
Rock Hill Tennis Center â-ª Rock Hill, South Carolina

No. 1 Tusculum 3, No. 5 Carson-Newman 0 (Final)
Singles
1 - Nicolas Bigler (TC) vs. Giuseppe Schwartz (CN), DNF
2 - Sergio Espinosa (TC) vs. Adriano Kira (CN), DNF
3 - Carlos Garcia (TC) def. Preston Sneed (CN), 6-1, 6-0
4 - Henrique Rodrigues (TC) def. Jack Harvie (CN), 6-1, 6-0
5 - Leo Guaycurus (TC) vs. Chris Acker (CN), DNF
6 - Hunter Beal (TC) vs. Trent Slagle (CN), DNF

Doubles
1 - Carlos Garcia/Sergio Espinosa (TC) def. Jack Harvie/Preston Sneed (CN), 8-6
2 - Henrique Rodrigues/Leo Guaycurus (TC) def. Adriano Kira/Giuseppe Schwartz (CN), 8-4
3 - Nicolas Bigler/Hunter Beals (TC) def. Trent Slagle/Chris Acker (CN), 8-6
Records: Tusculum (19-1); Carson-Newman (7-6)
Time: 2:03