ROCK HILL, S.C. — Carson-Newman received the No. 5 seed and will face fourth-seeded Mars Hill in the first round of the 2010 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men's Tennis Tournament, league officials announced Thursday.
The Eagles and Lions, the defending tournament champion, will meet in the quarterfinals on Thursday, April 22 at 1 p.m. at the Rock Hill Tennis Center in Rock Hill, S.C.
C-N, Mars Hill and Brevard finished tied for fourth in the final conference standings. The three schools split with each other and each lost to the top three seeds and beat the bottom three teams in the conference. The next tiebreaker was match scores in head-to-head play. Mars Hill beat Carson-Newman 6-3, but lost to Brevard 4-5 for a 10-8 match record and earned the fourth seed. Carson-Newman earned the fifth seed by virtue of its 5-4 victory over Brevard in head-to-head competition.
Mars Hill is 4-4 in conference play and 6-9 overall with one non-conference match left to play. C-N is 4-4 in the conference and 8-6 overall with three non-conference matches left to play. The winner of that match will face top-seeded Lincoln Memorial on Friday, April 23.
LMU is 8-0 in conference play and 15-1 overall. Lincoln Memorial still has two non-conference matches left this weekend, but are currently riding a 10-match winning streak. The Railsplitters won their first SAC men's championship.
Wingate University is the second seed. The Bulldogs went 7-1 in conference play and are 13-3 overall.
Both Lincoln Memorial and Wingate will receive byes to the tennis tournament semifinals.
Tusculum College is the third seed. The Pioneers won the 2008 tournament title and advanced to the championship last year. Tusculum is 6-2 in the conference and 14-4 overall. The Pioneers will face sixth-seed Brevard College in one quarterfinal match on Thursday, April 22, at 1 p.m. The winner of that match will face Wingate on Friday, April 23.
Brevard went 4-4 in league play and is 7-11 on the year.
The tournament championship is scheduled for noon on Saturday, April 24.
Lincoln Memorial is ranked 12th in the most recent ITA Southeast Region rankings, while Wingate is 13th. Mars Hill, Tusculum and Brevard are ranked 16th, 17th, and 18th, respectively.
All matches will be held at the Rock Hill Tennis Center in Rock Hill, S.C.
The tournament winner will receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Tournament.
Food Lion is the title sponsor for all South Atlantic Conference championships.
