ROCK HILL, S.C. --- The Tusculum University men's tennis team is picked to finish third in the South Atlantic Conference for the 2024 season, according to the preseason poll of the league's 13 head coaches that was released Friday.

The Pioneers finished second in the SAC at 11-1 last season and advanced to the tournament finals, then earned their second NCAA Division II Tournament berth in three years before ending the season with a 17-7 record and ranked 28th in Division II by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.

First-year head coach Tim Dunford has three regulars back from last year's squad, with senior Nemanja Subanovic a preseason first-team All-SAC selection in singles. Sophomore Will Gee and senior Ivan Ivars were each second-team All-SAC picks in singles.

Subanovic is a two-time second-team All-SAC selection in singles (2021, 2023) who went 14-11 overall last season and 12-10 in dual matches. The native of Subotica, Serbia had an 8-3 record in conference play and enters the spring with a career record of 39-29 in singles for the Pioneers.

Gee was 8-6 for the Pioneers during his freshman season, including a 4-0 record in conference matches, while playing primarily at flights five and six. The Faversham, England native was 7-1 in action during the fall for the Pioneers, boosting his career record to 15-7.

Ivars played mostly at flight four for the Pioneers last season and had a 10-7 overall record, with an 8-3 mark in SAC competition. The Alicante, Spain native is in his third season at Tusculum and brings a 14-9 career record into spring play.

Wingate collected 12 of the 13 first-place votes in the poll and had 144 points to take the top spot ahead of Carson-Newman, which had 125 points. The Pioneers were third with 115 points, followed by Anderson (100), Limestone (93) and Lincoln Memorial (90) in positions four through six.

Catawba had 82 points and the other first-place vote to take seventh place, followed by Lenoir-Rhyne in eighth at 81 points and Newberry with 63 points in ninth. Coker (48 points) was 10th, trailed by Mars Hill (35), Emory & Henry (21) and UVA Wise (17).

The Pioneers, who were 2-0 during fall competition, will play their spring regular-season opener on Saturday, Feb. 3 in the PTR Collegiate Cup in Wesley Chapel, Florida against Georgia College.

2024 SAC Men's Tennis Preseason Poll

2024 SAC Men's Tennis Preseason All-Conference
First Team Doubles
Gabriel Constantino/Edis Nokic, Wingate
Luka Brown/Hugo Nossler, Wingate
Florian Walcher/Carlo Rosselini, Wingate 

Second Team Doubles
Vadym Rogynskyi/Rufus Plane, Lenoir-Rhyne
Tyler Juergens / Ryan Little, Catawba
Marnix Van Dalen /Lars Hordijk, Carson-Newman

Third Team Doubles
Paul Dekester / Sebastian Zabala, Catawba
Tom Lamers / Thibaut Decaluwe , Coker
Harper Mills / Thom Hermans, Lincoln Memorial 

First Team Singles
Marcos Castares, Catawba
Gabriel Constantino, Wingate
Marc Janse, Carson-Newman
Edis Nokic, Wingate
Nemanja Subanovic, Tusculum
Florian Walcher, Wingate

Second Team Singles
Zachary Cox, Lenoir-Rhyne
Will Gee, Tusculum
Alexandru Giurea, Lincoln Memorial
Ivan Ivars, Tusculum
Gjorgji Jankulovski, Carson-Newman
Marnix Van Dalen, Carson-Newman

Third Team Singles
Ryan Little, Catawba
Thom Hermans, Lincoln Memorial
Ramiro Rincon Hernandez, Limestone
Vadym Rogynskyi, Lenoir-Rhyne
Samuel Winter , Coker
Andre Zamorano, Limestone