Rock Hill, S.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs have been picked to finish second in the preseason South Atlantic Conference men's tennis coach's poll, which was released Wednesday morning. Wingate had three players earn SAC Player to Watch accolades –
Rodrigo de la Torre,
Carlo Rosellini and
Ruben LeBron.
Catawba is the preseason favorite, collecting nine of the 12 first-place votes. Wingate is second, picking up the other three first-place votes. LMU is third, with Carson-Newman, Lenoir-Rhyne, Tusculum, Anderson and Coker rounding out the top eight. UVA Wise is ninth, followed by Newberry, Mars Hill and Emory & Henry.
Wingate went 17-3 last season, posting an 11-1 record in league play. The Bulldogs advanced to the SAC title match and earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The 'Dogs have appeared in the NCAA Tournament each of the last seven seasons. Wingate has won 11 of the last 15 regular season SAC titles, going 154-11 in league play ove the last 15 years.
Rosellini was a first team All-SAC singles and doubles honoree in 2025. He posted a 13-2 record in singles play, going 8-0 against league opponents. He went 11-1 at three singles, adding a win at two and four singles. Rosellini also went 11-2 at number one doubles last year.
De la Torre went 15-0 in singles play last season, going 9-0 in league play. He was 9-0 at five singles and 6-0 at six singles. De la Torre also posted a 6-2 doubles record.
LeBron joins the Bulldogs as a freshman. He comes to Wingate from Mallorca, Spain.
Wingate opens the season Feb. 3 at Queens, opening the home slate Tuesday, Feb. 17 against Belmont Abbey at 2 p.m. The Bulldogs open SAC play Feb. 21 at Mars Hill at 10 a.m.
Preseason SAC Men's Tennis Poll
| Rank |
School (First Place Votes) |
Score |
| 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 |
25 |
SAC Men's Tennis 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, Rodrigo De La Torre
