SAC releases 2021 tennis preseason polls

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ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Wingate has been picked first in the 2021 South Atlantic Conference men's tennis preseason poll, the league office announced today. The Bulldogs received 10 first-place votes from the League's head coaches with 154 total points.

Queens earned the No. 2 slot with three first-place votes and 145 points, while Anderson and Lenoir-Rhyne came in at No. 3 with 122 points each. Tusculum placed fifth in the poll with 117 points and Lincoln Memorial was voted No. 6 with 89 points. Limestone came in at No. 7 with 84points, followed by Carson-Newman at No. 8 with 81 points.

Newberry took the No. 9 slot with 74 points and at No. 10 was Coker with 62 points. Catawba placed eleventh with 55 points, while Mars Hill received 38 points at No. 12 and UVA Wise rounded out the poll at No. 13 with 27 points.

In addition to the preseason poll, the SAC announced its preseason all-conference teams. Highlighting the first team were doubles partners Enrico Giacomini and Roy Stepanov of Wingate, Rhodri Atkinson and Josh Lazenby from Lenoir-Rhyne, and Carlos Pinedo and Isaac MacMillan of Coker.  

Atkinson was named first team singles, in addition to his doubles honors. Also earning spots on the singles list were Matt Jones of Wingate, Yago Fernandez from Tusculum, Josep Canyadell and Tolunay Sumer of Wingate, and Paolo Bompieri from Queens.

The 2021 South Atlantic Conference Men's Tennis season gets underway on Tuesday, February 2. Check out the full schedule of men's tennis matches at www.thesac.com.

2021 SAC Men's Tennis Preseason Poll

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Wingate has been voted as the 2021 South Atlantic Conference women's tennis preseason poll favorite, the league office announced today. The League's head coaches gave the Bulldogs 12 first-place votes and a total of 156 points.

Queens was voted second with 138 points, while Tusculum was picked third with one first-place vote and 131 points. Lenoir-Rhyne was voted in at No. 4 with 123 points, followed by Anderson at No. 5 with 110 points. 

Lincoln Memorial placed No. 6 with 90 points and Newberry was voted No. 7 with 87 points. Carson-Newman took the No. 8 spot with 83 points, while Limestone was voted No. 9 with 75 points. Catawba followed with 58 points at No. 10, Coker was No. 11 with 55 points, Mars Hill was picked No. 12 with 35 points, and UVA Wise was No. 13 with 29 points.

The SAC also announced its preseason all-conference teams.  The first team doubles partners were Annie and Caitlin McCullough of Tusculum, Gemma Southwick and Diana Babinets from Lenoir-Rhyne, and Yana Fleyer and Sasha Davidzenka from Queens.

In singles, Viktorija Veselinova of Queens and Ana Carla Resende of Carson-Newman were named first team, along with Lenoir-Rhyne's Southwick. Rounding out the first team selections were Fleyer and Davidzenka from Queens and McCullough from Tusculum.

The 2021 South Atlantic Conference Women's Tennis season gets underway on Tuesday, February 2. Check out the full schedule of women's tennis matches at www.thesac.com.

2021 SAC Women's Tennis Preseason Poll