Catawba Claims Top Seed as Men's Tennis Tournament Field is Released

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Catawba continued its dominant season in South Atlantic Conference men's tennis, completing a perfect 11-0 regular season to claim the 2026 SAC Men's Tennis Regular Season Championship. The Indians enter next week's SAC Men's Tennis Championship as the No. 1 seed.

Wingate secured the No. 2 seed after finishing the season at 10-1 in conference play.

A three-way tie for third place occurred between Lincoln Memorial, Tusculum and Lenoir-Rhyne, with each team finishing 8-3 in SAC play. Each team went 1-1 in head-to-head matchups, forcing the use of the second tiebreaker—combined individual dual match scores.

Lincoln Memorial posted the best combined record among the tied teams (5-4) to earn the No. 3 seed. Tusculum takes the No. 4 seed following its head-to-head win over Lenoir-Rhyne, while the Bears slot in at No. 5.

Coker claimed the No. 6 seed with a 6-5 conference record, followed by Anderson at No. 7 after finishing 5-6 in league play. Carson-Newman rounds out the field as the No. 8 seed with a 4-7 mark.

The 2026 South Atlantic Conference Men's Tennis Championship will be held at the Palmetto Tennis Center in Sumter, S.C., beginning with quarterfinal matches, followed by semifinals and the championship match.

The 2026 SAC Men's Tennis Championship schedule is as follows:

Quarterfinal – Thursday April 16 – Sumter, S.C. – Palmetto Tennis Center

Match 1: #8 Carson-Newman vs. #1 Catawba, 9 a.m.
Match 2: #5 Lenoir-Rhyne vs. #4 Tusculum, 9 a.m.
Match 3: #7 Anderson vs. #2 Wingate, 9 a.m.
Match 4: #6 Coker vs. #3 Lincoln Memorial, 9 a.m.

Semifinals – Friday, April 17
Match 5: Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2, 9 a.m.
Match 6: Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4, 9 a.m.

Championship – Saturday, April 18
Match 7: Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6, 9 a.m.