GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's tennis team will take on Lenoir-Rhyne University in the quarterfinals of the 2026 South Atlantic Conference Championship tournament.
The quarterfinals will be played Thursday, April 16, followed by semifinals on Friday, April 17 and the championship match on Saturday, April 18. All matches will be played at 2 p.m. at the Palmetto Tennis Center in Sumter, South Carolina.
The Pioneers (17-4, 8-3 SAC) finished in a three-way tie for third place in the conference standings with Lincoln Memorial and Lenoir-Rhyne, and earned the fourth seed in the field via tiebreaker. Lenoir-Rhyne (9-4, 8-3 SAC) was seeded fifth due to the Pioneers' 4-2 win over the Bears in the regular-season meeting on March 28.
Tusculum is making its 14th consecutive appearance in the SAC Tournament, having won the championship in 2002, 2008 and 2021. The Pioneers are 3-0 all-time against the Bears in the SAC Tournament, with wins in the quarterfinal round in 2008, 2022 and 2023.
Junior Romain Payan (Paris, France) will play flight one of singles for the Pioneers. Payan, who transferred to Tusculum from Colorado Mesa at the semester break, is 4-12 in singles for the Pioneers with a 2-9 record at flight one and a 1-6 mark in conference play. Junior Rens Verhaar (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) has an 11-8 singles record this season and was 8-4 at flight two, with a 4-3 record in SAC play.
At flight three, junior David Negzaoui (Valbonne, France) transferred in from Newberry and went 7-9 in singles, with a 5-6 record at flight three and a 2-3 record in conference play. Senior Will Gee (Faversham, England) has a 13-8 season record for the Pioneers and went 6-5 at flight four, and had a 4-3 record in SAC competition.
Junior Angus Howard (Bath, England) came to Tusculum from Northern Illinois and led the team in singles victories with a 15-4 mark, which includes a 7-2 record in SAC matches and a 10-4 record at flight five. Freshman Reese McCann (Belfast, Northern Ireland) was 8-4 at flight six and had a 13-4 overall record this season, including a 5-2 record in conference play.
In doubles, McCann and Howard played at flight one and went 4-6 in conference action and 11-9 overall. Verhaar and sophomore Kai Poelchau (Culemborg, The Netherlands) had an 11-3 record at flight two and 4-3 in conference play, with Negzaoui and Gee teaming up to go 11-6 at flight three, 5-3 in SAC play and 15-7 overall.
Lenoir-Rhyne has been paced by strong doubles play from junior Vitor Ferreira and senior Vadym Rogynskyi, who are ranked 31st in Division II and have teamed to go 14-1 this season with a 9-0 record this spring. Ferreira leads the Bears in singles victories with nine, followed by junior Paul Daniel Meyer and freshman Zeno Godi with eight wins apiece in singles.
The winner of Thursday's match between Tusculum and Lenoir-Rhyne will face the winner between top-seeded Catawba and eighth-seeded Carson-Newman in the semifinals on Friday. Saturday's championship winner will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
2026 SAC Men's Tennis Championship
at Palmetto Tennis Center - Sumter, S.C.
All matches at 9 a.m.
Thursday, April 16 - Quarterfinals
Match 1: #8 Carson-Newman vs. #1 Catawba
Match 2: #5 Lenoir-Rhyne vs. #4 Tusculum
Match 3: #7 Anderson vs. #2 Wingate
Match 4: #6 Coker vs. #3 Lincoln Memorial
Semifinals – Friday, April 17
Match 5: Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2
Match 6: Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4
Championship – Saturday, April 18
Match 7: Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6
