ROCK HILL, S.C. --- The Tusculum University men's tennis team has been picked for a tie for sixth place in the South Atlantic Conference preseason coaches poll for the 2026 season, the SAC office announced Wednesday.
The Pioneers finished 8-12 last season and 6-6 in the SAC, tying for seventh place in the league standings. First-year head coach Wyatt Pauley has seven returnees, four transfers and three freshmen on his 14-player roster this spring.
Tusculum Players to Watch this season are senior Will Gee, junior Rens Verhaar and junior Angus Howard.
Gee was a third-team All-SAC selection in singles in 2024 and entered the season with 28-13 record in singles and a 33-33 record in singles play during his Tusculum career. The Faversham, England native was 5-5 in singles last year and 9-12 in doubles.
Verhaar is 16-18 in singles in his Tusculum career, with a 28-23 mark in doubles competition. The Amsterdam, The Netherlands native was 3-10 in singles and 10-14 in doubles last year for the Pioneers.
Howard comes to Tusculum after posting a 4-9 record in singles and a 5-3 mark in doubles last season at Northern Illinois. The Bath, England native played his freshman season at Texas Permian Basin, which qualified for the NCAA Division II Tournament.
Catawba, which is ranked ninth national in the ITA Division II preseason poll, had nine first-place votes to take the top spot in the SAC poll. Wingate, which is ranked 19th nationally, had the other three first-place votes to take second place, followed by Lincoln Memorial, Carson-Newman and Lenoir-Rhyne in the top five.
Tusculum and Anderson are tied for sixth, trailed by Coker, UVA Wise, Newberry, Mars Hill and Emory & Henry.
The Pioneers play their first official match of the 2026 spring season on Friday, Jan. 30 at Tuskegee, beginning at 1:00 PM Central time.
2026 SAC Men's Tennis Preseason Coaches Poll
|
Rank |
School (First-Place Votes) |
Pts. |
|
1. |
Catawba (9) |
130 |
|
2. |
Wingate (3) |
124 |
|
3. |
Lincoln Memorial |
110 |
|
4. |
Carson-Newman |
96 |
|
5. |
Lenoir-Rhyne |
85 |
|
T6. |
TUSCULUM |
75 |
|
T6. |
Anderson |
75 |
|
8. |
Coker |
67 |
|
9. |
UVA Wise |
61 |
|
10. |
Newberry |
46 |
|
11. |
Mars Hill |
31 |
|
12. |
Emory & Henry |
24 |
2026 SAC Men's Tennis Preseason Players to Watch
Anderson: Mathis Collignon, Vicent Fenollar, Wynn Shioi
Catawba: Agustin Mastri, Santiago Passoni, Luca Bergonzi
Carson-Newman: Louis Keenan, Darko Kolevski, Leonard Baecker
Coker: Marcio Silve, Lukas Melone, Eduardo Pilia
Emory & Henry: Keenan Glago, Nathan Spurling, Bangalie Turay
Lenoir-Rhyne: Vadym Rogynsyi, Vitor Ferreira, Zeno Godi
Lincoln Memorial: Radu Florea , Alexandru Rares Giurea , Ethan Hirons
Mars Hill: Paul-Antoine Pelzer, Diell Mehmedi, Riccardo Moretti
Newberry: Senthen Reddy, Daniel Watson, Noel Bartz
Tusculum: Will Gee, Angus Howard, Rens Verhaar
UVA Wise: Mustafa Raja, Yi-Hsuan Chen, Miguel De Rueda
Wingate: Carlo Rosellini , Ruben LeBron, Rod De La Torre
