A come-from-behind win in singles play from Nicolas Planchard and a decisive straight-set win by Daniel Gianopulos gave the Tusculum College men's tennis team a 5-4 victory over Newberry College in South Atlantic Conference action Sunday afternoon at the Nichols Tennis Complex.

The Pioneers (12-4, 6-1 SAC) won their ninth straight match and remained tied with Anderson (8-1) and Lincoln Memorial (6-1) in the loss column atop the SAC standings with two conference matches remaining. Tusculum will host Lincoln Memorial in the regular-season finale on Friday afternoon.

With the Pioneers trailing 2-1 after doubles play, Planchard capped off a run of three straight singles wins by rallying at flight two against Newberry's Vinicius Botelho. Battling arm and leg cramps, Planchard dropped the first set 6-4 and trailed 4-5 in the second set, only to capture the final three games and level the match with a 7-5 victory. Planchard then won the tiebreaker 10-3 to give the Pioneers a 4-2 lead and improve his season record to 12-1 in singles.

Newberry (12-8, 5-4 SAC) battled back with a pair of wins at flights four and five to even the score at 4-4, but Gianopulos posted a 6-4, 6-0 win at flight six over David Sons to give the victory to the Pioneers.

In addition to Planchard's win, the Pioneers also received singles victories from Lukas Winkelmann at flight one, where he defeated Michael Saunders 6-4, 6-2, and at flight three as Jonas Winkelmann bested Carlos Nicolopulos by a 6-4, 6-4 score.

The doubles pairing of Paul Wiederspahn and Joseph Elphingstone provided the lone point for the Pioneers as they defeated Fernando Espana and Sons by a score of 8-4 at flight three. Newberry earned wins from Saunders and Botelho at flight one and Nicolopulos and Cal Loveridge at flight two to take the lead into singles play.

The Pioneers will be home Tuesday afternoon against Brevard in a SAC contest beginning at 3 p.m. at the Nichols Tennis Complex.