ROCK HILL, S.C. --- The Tusculum University women's tennis team has been picked to finish third in the South Atlantic Conference preseason coaches poll, the league office announced Thursday.

The Pioneers, who won the 2019 SAC championship with a perfect 10-0 conference record, finished 6-3 overall and 2-1 in SAC action during the abbreviated 2020 spring schedule. Two of the Pioneers' three losses came to nationally-ranked teams, but Tusculum had won two in a row prior to play being halted.

Tusculum grad students Annie McCullough and Caitlin McCullough and senior Julia Lopez all earned preseason All-Conference recognition. The McCullough sisters were first-team All-SAC in doubles, while Annie was named to the first team in singles and Caitlin joined Lopez as second-team picks.

The McCulloughs were ITA Division II All-Americans last season after finishing as the national runner-up in doubles in the ITA Cup. The duo went 10-3 during the fall, including four wins against nationally-ranked opponents, before sitting out the spring season due to injury. As a team, the McCulloughs have a career doubles record of 54-12 including an 18-2 record in SAC competition, and were named first-team All-SAC in doubles in both 2018 and 2019.

In singles, Annie McCullough has a career record of 91-15 as she is nine wins shy of becoming the first player in program history to record 100 singles wins. The Belfast, Northern Ireland native was SAC Player of the Year in 2019 and has earned All-Conference honors three times in singles. McCullough, a finalist for the NCAA Woman of the Year award and a CoSIDA Academic All-American, was 10-3 in singles last fall, winning three matches against ranked opponents, and went 2-1 in ITA Cup competition.

Caitlin McCullough recorded an 8-4 singles record during the fall of 2019 and was ranked 14th in the Southeast Region in singles. McCullough was second-team All-SAC in singles in 2018 and first-team All-Conference in 2019, and the native of Belfast, Northern Ireland has a career singles record of 46-19 at Tusculum which includes a 17-3 mark in SAC singles competition. Including her freshman season at Northeastern Oklahoma State, McCullough has a career collegiate singles record of 65-25.

Lopez returns for a fifth season after compiling a 14-5 record in singles last year, including a 6-3 mark in dual matches and an 8-2 record in tournament action. The Zaragoza, Spain native finished the 2020 season with a three-match winning streak and was 3-0 in conference play, boosting her career conference singles record to 12-3. Lopez was honorable mention All-SAC in singles in 2019 when she finished with an 18-9 record, and she has a career singles mark of 46-20.

Wingate earned 12 of 13 first-place votes in the poll and 156 points to take the top spot, followed by Queens with 138 points in second. The Pioneers had the other first-place vote and were third with 131 points, with Lenoir-Rhyne in fourth (123 points) and Anderson fifth with 110.

Lincoln Memorial is sixth in the poll with 90 points, trailed by Newberry in seventh (87 points) and Carson-Newman (83 points) in eighth. Conference newcomer Limestone (75 points) is ninth, with Catawba (58 points) in 10th, Coker (55) in 11th and Mars Hill (35) in 12th. UVA Wise brings up 13th place with 29 points.

The Pioneers open their 2021 schedule on Friday, Feb. 12 against Lee at the Nichols Tennis Complex. Tusculum's conference opener is slated for Saturday, Feb. 27 at Anderson.

2021 SAC Women's Tennis Preseason Coaches Poll

2021 SAC Women's Tennis Preseason All-Conference

First Team Doubles
Annie McCullough/Caitlin McCullough, Tusculum
Sasha Davidzenka / Yana Fleyer, Queens
Gemma Southwick / Diana Babinets, Lenoir-Rhyne 

Second Team Doubles
Katya Akimenko & Liza Akimenko, UVA Wise
Una Pandurevic/Lauren Laughton, Catawba
Judit Gonzalez Agud & Elisa Aguirre, Newberry 

First Team Singles
Annie McCullough, Tusculum
Viktorija Veselinova, Queens
Yana Fleyer, Queens 
Ana Carla Resende, Carson-Newman 
Sasha Davidzenka, Queens 
Gemma Southwick, Lenoir-Rhyne 

Second Team Singles
Julia Lopez, Tusculum
Liza Akimenko, UVA Wise
Viktorija Veselinova, Queens 
Camilla Ciaccia, Wingate
Caitlin McCullough, Tusculum
Elena Bompieri, Wingate