ROCK HILL, S.C. --- The South Atlantic Conference announced Thursday that Tusculum College was picked third in the men's tennis preseason coaches' poll. The Pioneers placed two players on the All-Conference singles team and had a selection to the All-Conference doubles team, as chosen by the league's 12 head coaches.

Earning first-team preseason All-Conference honors was senior Jonas Winkelmann, while junior Leon Seiz was a second-team All-Conference pick in singles. Seiz was selected along with sophomore Tashique Kader as first-team preseason All-Conference in doubles.

Winkelmann has been honored by the SAC as a member of the postseason All-Conference team in singles in each of his first three seasons, and is a two-time first-team All-Conference choice in doubles. Winkelmann finished 15-6 in singles last season and had a perfect 20-0 record in doubles while teaming with his older brother, Lukas. Winkelmann was a third-team Academic All-American last year and is a two-time SAC Player of the Week. Winkelmann, a native of Boblingen, Germany, entered his senior season with a career record of 47-14 in singles and 53-8 in doubles.

Seiz tied for second on the team with 15 singles victories last season, including a 9-2 record in conference matches. The native of Ludwigsburg, Germany carried a 32-8 record in singles play into his junior season for the Pioneers. Seiz teamed with Kader to go 14-4 in doubles last season and earn an honorable mention spot on the SAC All-Conference team. Kader, a native of Obertshausen, Germany, also had a 15-3 record in singles for the Pioneers as a freshman.

Tusculum, which won a share of its fifth South Atlantic Conference championship in 2015, went 3-0 during the fall season for first-year head coach Adam Jackson. The Pioneers will begin the spring season on Saturday, February 20 at Milligan as the 47th-ranked team in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division II poll.

Wingate, which shared the SAC championship with Tusculum then defeated the Pioneers in the SAC Tournament championship match, received nine first-place votes and 130 points to take the top spot in the preseason poll. Queens is second with 124 points, followed by Tusculum (124 points, two first-place votes), Anderson (110 points, one first-place vote) and Newberry (87 points) in the top five. The remainder of the rankings consists of Lincoln Memorial (79), Coker (59), Catawba (57), Carson-Newman (52), Lenoir-Rhyne (50), Mars Hill (46) and Brevard (22).

The 2016 South Atlantic Conference Men's Tennis Championship will be contested April 21 to 23 on the campus of Brevard College.

- TC -

2016 SAC Men's Tennis Preseason Poll
Rk Team Pts
1 Wingate (9) 130
2 Queens 124
3 TUSCULUM (2) 112
4 Anderson (1) 110
5 Newberry 87
6 Lincoln Memorial 79
7 Coker 59
8 Catawba 57
9 Carson-Newman 52
10 Lenoir-Rhyne 50
11 Mars Hill 46
12 Brevard 22
First-place votes in parentheses

2016 Preseason All-SAC Men's Tennis Team
First Team Doubles
1. Leon Seiz/Tashique Kader, Tusculum
2. Per-Erik Soler/Jules Athalis, Queens
3. Fernando Espana/Fernando Tous, Newberry

Second Team Doubles
Pepe Batalla/Joshua Peress, Lincoln Memorial
Amir Zari/Connor Kudrick, Wingate
Juan Carracedo/Mateo Rivas, Anderson

First Team Singles
Jules Athalis, Queens
Per-Erik Soler, Queens
William Marrafao, Coker
Filippo Pezzoli, Wingate
Juan Carracedo, Anderson
Jonas Winkleman, Tusculum

Second Team Singles
Sebastian Hall, Wingate
Connor Kudrick, Wingate
Jordan Monosky, Newberry
Amir Zari, Wingate
Leon Seiz, Tusculum
Mark Watt, Coker