Tusculum College's Lukas Winkelmann was named the South Atlantic Conference Freshman of the Year and Luis Zamora was honored as the Scholar-Athlete in men's tennis, the SAC office announced Tuesday.

Winkelmann, who was also a second-team All-SAC selection, is the third Pioneer to earn Freshman of the Year honors, joining Roberto Robles (2002) and Sergio Espinosa (2005). Zamora becomes the third Tusculum player in the last four years to win the prestigious Scholar-Athlete award, following Hunter Beal (2009) and Henrique Rodrigues (2010).

The Pioneers are the number-four seed in the upcoming South Atlantic Conference Men's Tennis Championship, and will face fifth seed Newberry in an opening-round match Thursday at 1:00 p.m. from the Rock Hill Tennis Center in Rock Hill.

Winkelmann, a native of Boeblingen, Germany, compiled an 11-5 singles record for the Pioneers while playing almost exclusively at the number-one position in the lineup. Winkelmann went 5-4 against SAC opponents, and enjoyed a streak of seven straight wins early in the season.

In doubles, Winkelmann teamed primarily with Zamora and finished with an overall record of 9-8 out of the number-one spot in the Pioneer lineup. Winkelmann won three league matches in doubles play, including a victory in the match against eventual SAC runner-up Anderson.

Zamora, a native of Santiago, Chile and a team captain, has played primarily at number-three singles and number-one doubles, earning four singles victories and posting a 7-9 mark in doubles for the Pioneers this season.

In the classroom, the two-time ITA Scholar-Athlete selection boasts a 3.96 GPA majoring in business management and economics. He is a multi-year selection to the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll, the Tusculum Athletic Director's Honor Roll, the Charles Oliver Gray Honor List and the Tusculum Dean's List.

Zamora is a member of the Alpha Chi Honor Society -- which acknowledges the top-10 percent of each class - and was the 2010-11 Duffield Award recipient, an honor given to the Tusculum student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA.

An active member in the local community as well, Zamora is heavily involved with groups including the Tusculum Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, "Help Me Help You, Inc.", the TC Bonner Leader's Program and the TC Business Club.

He is also in the process of creating a Center for Economic Development and Entrepreneurship at Tusculum, and is the founder and president of the Study Abroad and Global Awareness organization on campus.

"Luis epitomizes the pinnacle of being an outstanding student-athlete," said Pioneer head coach Tommy Arnett. "He is one of those rare young individual who really does think outside the box. He serves on this campus as a role model for anyone desiring to be successful in academics as well as in the field of athletics."

Brevard's Sam McNeil was named SAC Player of the Year, while Michael Cabana of Wingate earned Coach of the Year honors after leading the Bulldogs to the SAC Championship.

Tusculum enters the postseason with an 11-9 overall record and sole possession of fourth place in the SAC with a 5-4 mark, while Newberry went 13-11 overall and 4-5 in the SAC, earning the fifth seed via a tiebreaker over Catawba and Mars Hill. Newberry won the regular-season matchup with Tusculum by a 7-2 score on March 29 at Newberry.

The winner of Thursday's match will face top-seeded Wingate Friday at 1:00 p.m. in the semifinals. The conference championship match is scheduled for Saturday at 1:00 p.m. from the Rock Hill Tennis Center.

Sam MacNeil, Brevard
Phillip Hoffman, Lincoln Memorial
Stan Atema, Anderson
Flavio Rathsam, Wingate
Beau Wills, Brevard
Drew Owen, Wingate

Doubles
Sam MacNeil/Beau Wills, Brevard
Michael Saunders/Vinivius Botelho, Newberry
Phillip Hoffman/Tom Goossens, Lincoln Memorial

Second Team
Singles
Michael Saunders, Newberry
Lukas Winkelmann, Tusculum
Matt Lichtenstein, Wingate
Lucas Simm, Mars Hill
Euquerio Guerrero, Mars Hill
Vinivius Botelho, Newberry

Doubles
Flavio Rathsam/Neal Towlson, Wingate
Stan Atema/Daniel Gonzales, Anderson
Euquerio Guerrero/Enrico Patriarca, Mars Hill*
Lucas Simm/Guilherme Lima, Mars Hill*
* tied for final second-team doubles selection

Player of the Year: Sam MacNeil, Brevard
Freshman of the Year: Lukas Winkelmann, Tusculum
Coach of the Year: Michael Cabana, Wingate
Scholar-Athlete: Luis Zamora, Tusculum

2012 South Atlantic Conference Men's Tennis Tournament
at Rock Hill Tennis Center, Rock Hill, S.C.

Thursday, April 19
Quarterfinals
No. 4 Tusculum vs. No. 5 Newberry, 1:00 p.m.
No. 3 Lincoln Memorial vs. No. 6 Catawba, 1:00 p.m.
No. 2 Anderson, bye
No. 1 Wingate, bye

Friday, April 20
Semifinals
Tusculum/Newberry winner vs. Wingate, 1:00 p.m.
Lincoln Memorial/Catawba winner vs. Anderson, 1:00 p.m.

Saturday, April 21
Championship match, 1:00 p.m.