LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. --- The top-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis team remained undefeated on the year with Sunday's 9-0 win over visiting Tusculum College at the GGC Tennis Facility.

The match was a homecoming for Tusculum head coach Adam Jackson, who previously served as an assistant coach with the Grizzlies prior to taking the Pioneer post last fall.

GGC improves to 20-0 on the year and have won 25 consecutive matches dating back to last season for the two-time defending NAIA national champions.

Despite the score, the Pioneers (19-3) proved scrappy, including the No. 1 doubles duo of Tim Stierle and Jonas Winkelmann as they lost a 9-7 marathon to Matias Hatem and Connor Clements, the No. 3-ranked doubles pairing in the country.

GGC's Jordan Cox and Luke Morland outlasted TC's Tashique Kader and Leon Seiz 8-4 at the second flight, while Tony Licata and Kevin Konfederak defeated TC's David Siegle and Eduardo Muňoz, 8-1.

Konfederak, the No. 1 ranked singles player in the country, defeated Stierle 6-4, 6-3 at the top flight. It was only Stierle's second setback of the season and snapped a 15-match winning streak for the Tusculum sophomore.

Gilad Berman, the 33rd-ranked player in the nation, defeated Muňoz, 6-2, 6-2 at the second set to clinch the match-winning point for the Grizzlies.

Lachlan McPhee overcame a tough bout at No. 3 singles against Winkelmann, before McPhee posted a 7-5, 6-3 win. Kader took Morland to a third set before falling 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 at No. 4 singles.

Tusculum, who captured its sixth South Atlantic Conference title earlier this week, will be the top-seed in this week's SAC Tournament, which will be held in Brevard, North Carolina. The Pioneers will face either Anderson University or Newberry College in a semifinal contest on Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. on the campus of Brevard College. The SAC Championship will be played on Saturday at noon with the winner earning an automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Tournament.

- TC -