ROCK HILL, S.C. - The Anderson University men's tennis team has been predicted to finish second in the South Atlantic Conference Coaches' Poll, just behind defending champion Wingate, as released by the league office on Thursday.
After going unbeaten in SAC matches the past two seasons, Wingate was picked by the league's coaches to win the conference title again in 2013. The Bulldogs, who reached the Southeast Regional Final of the 2012 NCAA Tennis Championship, received seven first-place votes in the SAC preseason poll. They finished last season with an overall record of 19-7.
WU also won last season's Food Lion SAC Tournament for the first time in program history.
After finishing second in the 2012 SAC standings at 8-1 in league matches, Anderson was No. 2 in the preseason poll. The Trojans received the poll's other three first-place votes.
2012 SAC Tournament runner-up Lincoln Memorial is third in the poll, followed by Newberry and Tusculum, which tied for fourth, No. 6 Catawba and No. 7 Mars Hill.
LMU finished third in last year's SAC standings at 7-2 in the league, Tusculum was No. 4 at 5-4, and Catawba, Newberry and Mars Hill tied for fifth at 4-5.
Carson-Newman, Brevard and Lenoir-Rhyne are No. 8, No. 9 and No. 10 in the poll, respectively. Each team finished in identical positions in last season's SAC standings.
Six 2012 All-SAC singles selections return in 2013 to headline the preseason All-Conference Team. LMU's Philip Hoffman, who went 18-1 in singles play last season, is the lone returnee from the 2012 singles First Team.
He is joined on the 2013 preseason First Team by Newberry's Michael Saunders, Tusculum's Lukas Winkelmann, Mars Hill's Lucas Simm, Mars Hill's Euquerio Guerrero and Newberry's Vinicius Botelho. All five were second-team All-SAC selections after recording impressive singles records in 2012, as Saunders went 16-9, Winkelmann 12-5, Simm 10-6, Guerrero 10-5 and Botelho 18-5.
Making up the preseason doubles First Team are Newberry's Saunders and Botelho, LMU's Marcelo Alvin and Will Sparks, and Newberry's Cal Loveridge and Carlos Nicolopulos.
Saunders and Botelho - who were first-team All-Conference in 2012 - went 16-7 playing together last year, while Alvin and Sparks went 21-1 and Loveridge and Nicolopulos went 4-2.
The preseason All-SAC Second Team singles lineup consists of Alvim, Wingate's Neal Towlson, LMU's Alexy Minevskiy, Anderson's Daniel Gonzales, Anderson's Krystoff Gulbinovic and Lenoir-Rhyne's David Richardson.
Completing the doubles Second Team are Simm and Guerrero from Mars Hill, Carson-Newman's Paul Birdsong and Derek Hoidway, and Catawba's Alex MacDonald and Matthew Nicholson.
Gonzalez posted a 9-6 overall record, including a stellar 6-1
record in conference play, while Gulbinovic went 7-11 overall in
singles' play and notched a 6-3 league record.
The duo will be looking to help lead Coach Joey Eskridge's team to
its 14th appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the last 15
years.
[Complete Preseason All-SAC Team]
Anderson opens the 2013 campaign by playing host to future South Atlantic Conference- member Coker on Saturday at the Max Grubbs Memorial Tennis Courts. First-serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. The Trojans travel to Columbus State on Sunday for a 2 p.m. match.
2013 SAC Men's Tennis Preseason Coaches' Poll
Team Points (1st-place)
1. Wingate 79 (7)
2. Anderson 75 (3)
3. Lincoln Memorial 64
4. Newberry 49
Tusculum 49
6. Catawba 40
7. Mars Hill 33
8. Carson-Newman 30
9. Brevard 20
10. Lenoir-Rhyne 10
