ROCK HILL, S.C. --- Tusculum University was picked to finish fifth in the South Atlantic Conference men's tennis preseason coaches poll, announced Thursday by the league office.

Three members of the Pioneer squad earned preseason All-Conference honors, as Yago Fernandez was a first-team choice in singles and Leon Huck was a second-team selection in both singles and in doubles, joining Frank Bonacia on the doubles team.

The Pioneers ended the abbreviated 2020 season with a 7-4 overall record and a 1-2 mark in SAC matches. Tusculum defeated Francis Marion 5-2 on March 12 of last spring in what turned out to be the final athletic event of the season.

Fernandez was 8-2 last season for the Pioneers, with all of his competition coming during the fall portion of the 2019-20 schedule. Fernandez is a two-time All-SAC selection in singles and the Aviles, Spain native has a career record of 45-24 in singles play for the Pioneers.

Huck is coming off a strong freshman season for the Pioneers in which he went 9-1 during dual matches and 2-1 in conference play, while primarily at flight three in the singles lineup. The Forccheim, Germany native had an overall 11-3 record in singles in the 2019-20 season. In doubles, Huck had a 9-7 overall record during his freshman season, including a 4-5 mark in dual matches. Huck had a 1-2 record in SAC doubles action.

Bonacia was 6-9 in doubles during the 2019-20 season, his first after transferring from Division I Chicago State. The Rome, Italy native was 5-5 in dual matches, playing at all three positions in the Pioneer lineup. Including his time at Chicago State, Bonacia has a career 9-11 doubles record and a 9-10 singles mark.

Wingate took the top spot in the coaches poll, earning 10 of the 13 first-place votes and 154 points. Queens had the other three first-place votes and was second with 145 points, with Anderson and Lenoir-Rhyne tied for third with 122 points apiece.

The Pioneers had 117 points for fifth place, trailed by Lincoln Memorial in sixth (89 points), league newcomer Limestone in seventh (84) and Carson-Newman with 81 points in eighth. Newberry took ninth place in the poll with 74 points, with Coker (62 points) in tenth and Catawba (55) in 11th. Mars Hill (38 points) and UVA Wise (27) rounded out the survey.

Tusculum kicks off its 2021 schedule against Lee on Friday, Feb. 12 at the Nichols Tennis Complex. The Pioneers will travel to Anderson for their league opener on Saturday, Feb. 27.

2021 SAC Men's Tennis Preseason Coaches Poll

2021 SAC Men's Tennis Preseason All-Conference

First Team Doubles
Enrico Giacomini / Roy Stepanov, Wingate
Rhodri Atkinson / Josh Lazenby, Lenoir-Rhyne
Carlos Pinedo / Isaac MacMillan, Coker

Second Team Doubles
Leon Huck/Frank Bonacia, Tusculum

First Team Singles
Matt Jones, Wingate 
Rhodri Atkinson, Lenoir-Rhyne
Yago Fernandez, Tusculum
Josep Canyadell, Wingate
 Paolo Bompieri, Queens 
Tolunay Sumer, Wingate 

Second Team Singles
Josh Lazenby, Lenoir-Rhyne
Enrico Giacomini, Wingate
Edoardo Bottino, Queens
Leon Huck, Tusculum
Edoardo Cecere, Queens
Christian Della Cioppa, Wingate