Wingate Men, Women Earn Top Seeds in SAC Tennis Championship

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Wingate's men's and women's teams have secured the No. 1 seeds in next week's Food Lion SAC Tennis Championship, which is set to start on Thursday at the Rock Hill Tennis Center Rock Hill, S.C.

The Wingate men finished a perfect 9-0 in SAC play to earn the program its third all-time regular-season conference title. The Bulldogs enter the SAC Championship with an overall record of 16-6.

Wingate's women, meanwhile, finished tied with Anderson at 8-1 to share the regular-season SAC title. The Bulldogs, however, earn the SAC Championship's No. 1 seed based on their head-to-head win over Anderson earlier this season.

The regular-season co-championships are the third in Wingate women's history and the first since joining the SAC for Anderson.

In the SAC Men's Championship bracket, Anderson is the No. 2 seed after going 8-1 in conference play, followed by No. 3 Lincoln Memorial and No. 4 Tusculum.

Catawba, Mars Hill and Newberry each finished tied for fifth in the final SAC standings at 4-5, necessitating the use of a three-team tiebreaker to determine access and seeding in the Championship. Newberry becomes the No. 5 seed by virtue of its 10-8 dual match record against the other two teams, while Catawba wins the tiebreaker over Mars Hill for the sixth and final seed based on its head-to-head victory on March 1.

[RELATED: SAC tennis tiebreak policies explained, (pg. 6-7)]

In the women's bracket, Tusculum is the No. 3 seed behind Wingate and Anderson. The Pioneers went 7-2 in league play this season.

By each finishing 4-5 in the SAC, Brevard, Lincoln Memorial and Mars Hill finished tied for fourth in the final conference standings, requiring the use of a three-team tiebreaker to determine seeding.

Brevard earns the No. 4 seed by virtue of its 10-8 dual match record against the other two teams, while Mars Hill becomes the No. 5 seed due to its head-to-head victory over LMU on March 31.

The top-two seeds in each bracket receive a bye in Thursday's SAC Tennis Championship quarterfinal round. Thursday's action will begin with the women's matches at 9 a.m., followed by the men's matches at 1 p.m.

Complete information on the event, including full brackets, can be found at SAC Championship Central.

2012 Food Lion SAC Tennis Championship - Quarterfinal Schedule
Thurs., April 19 | Rock Hill Tennis Center | Rock Hill, S.C.

Women
No. 1 Wingate, bye
No. 2 Anderson, bye
No. 3 Tusculum vs. No. 6 Lincoln Memorial, 9 a.m.
No. 4 Brevard vs. No. 5 Mars Hill, 9 a.m.

Men
No. 1 Wingate, bye
No. 2 Anderson, bye
No. 3 Lincoln Memorial vs. No. 6 Catawba, 1 p.m.
No. 4 Tusculum vs. No. 5 Newberry, 1 p.m.