ROCK HILL, S.C. - After earning a share of the South Atlantic Conference regular-season title a year ago, the Anderson women's tennis team has been picked to finish second in the 2013 women's tennis preseason coaches' poll, which was released by the league office on Friday.
Wingate, the two-time defending SAC champion, was the top-ranked team in the poll after going a combined 17-1 in SAC play the past two years and received eight first-place votes in the poll. The Bulldogs have also won two-consecutive Food Lion SAC Tennis Tournament titles.
WU split the 2012 SAC regular-season championship with Anderson, which received one first-place vote. Both teams finished 8-1 in conference matches last year.
AU went 12-9 overall last season and was the runner-up to Wingate at the SAC Tournament.
Tusculum, which received the final first-place vote, was No. 3 in the poll. The Pioneers also finished third in the conference last season after going 17-4 overall and 7-2 in the conference.
Lincoln Memorial was fourth in the poll, followed by No. 5 Newberry, No. 6 Mars Hill and No. 7 Catawba. LMU was part of a three-way tie for fourth in last year's SAC standings with Mars Hill and Brevard, while Newberry finished seventh and Catawba finished ninth.
Rounding out the 2013 preseason poll were Carson-Newman and Brevard in a tie for eighth and Lenoir-Rhyne at No. 10. Carson-Newman was eighth in the final 2012 SAC standings, while L-R was 10th.
The 2013 preseason All-SAC Team was announced on Friday as well, with returning first team All-Conference singles selections Leah Donoff of LMU, Ali Evers of Wingate, Claire Dillman of Brevard and Tatiana Dualiby of Mars Hill headlining the honorees.
Donoff went 14-3 in 2012, Evers went 11-10, Dillman went 12-9 and Dualiby went 13-5. They are joined on the preseason singles First Team by Wingate's Becca Thomas and Newberry's Susana Aguirre, who finished 17-5 and 19-2 last year, respectively.
Both Thomas and Aguirre were second-team All-SAC singles selections in 2012.
Making up the preseason All-SAC First Team doubles lineup are the duos of Evers and Thomas from Wingate, Dillman and Michelle Prata from Brevard, and Dualiby and Anna Rickenbaker from Mars Hill. Evers and Thomas were a first-team All-SAC selection last year after going 12-9, while Dillman and Prata earned second-team honors after finishing 14-9.
Rickenbacker and Dualiby, meanwhile, will be competing together for the first time in 2013.
Earning singles positions on the preseason All-SAC Second Team were Newberry's Ariel Strong, Anderson's Avery Owens, Anderson's Camie Beaulieu-Brunet, Tusculum's Taylor Patterson, Wingate's Morgan Winston, Tusculum's Kate Hutchinson and Wingate's Kelli Ferguson. Hutchinson and Ferguson tied for the final spot on the team.
Strong, Owens and Beaulieu-Brunet were also 2012 second-team All-SAC singles selections.
Completing the preseason All-SAC Second Team are the doubles tandems of Carson-Newman's Stefy Stand and Patricia Guerreiro, Tusculum's Taylor Patterson and Megan Buckmaster, and Newberry's Aguirre and Romina Adum.
Behind the strong play of Owens and Beaulieu-Brunet, as well as Lindsay Gregory and Lauren Trumbull, the Trojans earned the championship appearance in just their second year of competing in the South Atlantic Conference
Owens was 6-2 in SAC action, while playing at the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 slots. Gregory paced the Trojans with 12 overall wins on the singles' side at No. 5 and No. 6, while posting an outstanding 8-1 mark in conference play. Trumbull earned 11 overall victories during the regular season and also notched an 8-1 SAC record.
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.
[Complete
Preseason All-SAC Team]
2013 SAC Women's Tennis Preseason Coaches'
Poll
Team Points (1st-place)
1. Wingate 80 (8)
2. Anderson 69 (1)
3. Tusculum 63 (1)
4. Lincoln Memorial 59
5. Newberry 43
6. Mars Hill 37
7. Catawba 33
8. Brevard 27
Carson-Newman 27
10. Lenoir-Rhyne 9
