HICKORY, N.C. --- Tusculum University swept singles from Lenoir-Rhyne University and picked up a 6-1 victory in South Atlantic Conference men's tennis action Sunday afternoon.

The Pioneers (14-3, 9-2 SAC) finished the regular season with five consecutive wins and earned the number-three seed in the upcoming SAC Championship tournament, which will be played April 15-17 at the Palmetto Tennis Center in Sumter, South Carolina. The Bears (9-6, 9-3 SAC) will be the fourth seed in the SAC tournament after having a streak of three straight conference wins ended.

Tusculum dropped the doubles point as Lenoir-Rhyne won two of the three matches, with the Pioneers' lone win coming at flight two as Dmitry Bezborodov and Leon Huck picked up their fifth straight victory with a 6-1 triumph at flight two over Patrik Alvestrand and Lewis Scott.

In singles, the Pioneers won in straight sets in five of the six matches, with the only three-set match coming at flight one between Bezborodov and Lenoir-Rhyne standout Rhodri Atkinson, who was undefeated in conference play at 10-0. Bezborodov came away with the 6-3, 0-6, 6-1 win to improve his overall record to 15-2 and to 9-1 in SAC competition.

In other action, Nemanja Subanovic beat Josh Lazenby 7-6 (9-7), 6-4 at flight two, and Frank Bonacia defeated Alvestrand 6-1, 6-2 at flight three. At flight four, Huck won his 12th straight match, completed a perfect 10-0 season in conference play and improved to 13-2 overall with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Scott. Manuel Guedes de Almeida beat Mauricio Hernandez 6-3, 6-3 at flight five and Vadzim Raitsou defeated Joel Hemmings 6-4, 6-4 at flight six.

Tusculum will play sixth-seeded Lincoln Memorial in the quarterfinal round of the SAC tournament at noon on Thursday. The Pioneers beat the Railsplitters 7-0 in their regular-season meeting on March 6. Semifinal action will be on Friday, with the conference championship match Saturday.