The South Atlantic Conference Announces 2016 Men's Tennis Preseason Poll & All-Conference
ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Wingate has been chosen first in the South Atlantic Conference's men's tennis annual preseason poll, as voted by the League's head coaches, it was announced today by the League office. The Bulldogs picked up nine first-place votes from the panel and 130 points.
Queens came in at No. 2 with 124 points, while Tusculum grabbed two top votes and 112 points to earn the No. 3 position. Anderson, who picked up one first-place vote, placed No. 4 in the poll with 110 points. In fifth was Newberry with 87 points, followed by Lincoln Memorial at No. 6 with 79 points. Coker's 59 points was good for the No. 7 slot and at No. 8 was Catawba with 57 points. Carson-Newman placed ninth with 52 points, while Lenoir-Rhyne was voted No. 10 with 50 points. Mars Hill took the No. 11 spot with 46 points and Brevard rounded out the poll with 22 points.
Queens put a pair of student-athletes on the preseason All-SAC team in Jules Athalis and Per-Erik Soler. Coker's William Marrafao, Filippo Pezzoli from Wingate, Juan Carracedo of Anderson and Tusculum's Jonas Winkleman joined the Queens duo on the list of first-team preseason All-South Atlantic Conference honorees.
Soler and Athalis also earned first-team doubles plaudits, while Leon Seiz and Tashique Kader of Tusculum also picked up first-team doubles honors. Newberry's Fernando Espana and Fernando Tous wrapped up the list of first-team All-SAC doubles selections.
The 2016 South Atlantic Conference Men's Tennis season gets underway on Feb. 2. The 2015 SAC Men's Tennis Championship is slated for April 21-23 on the campus of Brevard College.
| Rank | School (First-Place Votes) | Points |
| 1. | Wingate (9) | 130 |
| 2. | Queens | 124 |
| 3. | Tusculum (2) | 112 |
| 4. | Anderson (1) | 110 |
| 5. | Newberry | 87 |
| 6. | Lincoln Memorial | 79 |
| 7. | Coker | 59 |
| 8. | Catawba | 57 |
| 9. | Carson-Newman | 52 |
| 10. | Lenoir-Rhyne | 50 |
| 11. | Mars Hill | 46 |
| 12. | Brevard | 22 |
2016 Men's Tennis Preseason All-Conference
First Team Doubles
Leon Seiz/Tashique Kader, Tusculum
Per-Erik Soler/Jules Athalis, Queens
Fernando Espana/Fernando Tous, Newberry
Pepe Batalla/Joshua Peress, Lincoln Memorial
Amir Zari/Connor Kudrick, Wingate
Juan Carracedo/Mateo Rivas, Anderson
First Team Singles
Jules Athalis, Queens
Per-Erik Soler, Queens
William Marrafao, Coker
Filippo Pezzoli, Wingate
Juan Carracedo, Anderson
Jonas Winkleman, Tusculum
Sebastian Hall, Wingate
Connor Kudrick, Wingate
Jordan Monosky, Newberry
Amir Zari, Wingate
Leon Seiz, Tusculum
Mark Watt, Coker