SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Six-time defending champion ETSU has earned the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Southern Conference Men’s Tennis Championship, which will be contested April 21-23 at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
 
The 74th-ranked Bucs, who finish the regular season by hosting The Citadel on Sunday, are 16-6 overall on the season and 6-0 in league play, clinching at least a share of the regular season and the top seed in the tournament with their 6-1 win over Furman on Tuesday. ETSU, which has won the tournament every year it has been contested since rejoining the SoCon in 2014-15, will square off with the Bulldogs (6-24, 0-6 SoCon) again in the first round of the tournament on Thursday at 1 p.m. The squads have met in the quarterfinal round of the tournament four other times since 2015, all 4-0 wins for the Bucs. ETSU is 5-0 all-time against the Bulldogs in the tournament, also winning their matchup in 2005.
 
On the same side of the bracket, No. 4 seed Chattanooga faces No. 5 seed Wofford at 1 p.m. Thursday. The Mocs finished the regular season 7-15 overall and 4-3 in league play, while the Terriers enter the tournament at 9-12 overall and 3-4 in SoCon action. Chattanooga claimed a 5-2 win when the squads met on March 18. The teams have met in the SoCon tournament just once, with the Mocs claiming a 4-2 win in the quarterfinals in 2006.
 
In the bottom half of the bracket, No. 2 seed Furman faces No. 7 seed Mercer on Thursday at 3 p.m. The Paladins went 14-8 overall and 6-1 in league play, while the Bears finished 7-14 and 1-6. Furman, which has reached the SoCon title match six times since 2014, came out on top 7-0 in the squads’ April 3 meeting. The teams have met in the SoCon tournament twice, with Mercer claiming a 4-3 win in the 2017 semifinals and Furman returning the favor with a 4-0 in the 2019 semis.
 
Samford went 6-13 overall and 4-3 in SoCon play to clinch the No. 3 seed and will face No. 6 seed UNCG (6-15, 3-4) on Thursday at 3 p.m. The Bulldogs beat the Spartans in quarterfinals in 2015 and 2018 in their only tournament meetings, but UNCG earned a 5-2 win in this year’s regular-season meeting on March 6.
 
Friday’s semifinals are at 2 p.m., with Saturday’s title match set for 1 p.m.
 
Furman owns a league-best 14 SoCon tournament titles, with ETSU just behind with 13, though the 2015-17 titles were later vacated. Chattanooga has 12 titles to its credit.
 
April 24 will serve as the rain date for the championship.
 
SoCon Men’s Tennis Championship
Chattanooga, Tenn. – Champions Club
Thursday, April 21
Match 1: No. 1 ETSU vs. No. 8 The Citadel, 1 p.m.
Match 2: No. 4 Chattanooga vs. No. 5 Wofford, 1 p.m.
Match 3: No. 3 Samford vs. No. 6 UNCG, 3 p.m.
Match 4: No. 2 Furman vs. No. 7 Mercer, 3 p.m.
 
Friday, April 22
Match 5: Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner, 2 p.m.
Match 6: Match 3 winner vs. Match 4 winner, 2 p.m.
 
Saturday, April 23
Match 7: Match 5 winner vs. Match 6 winner, 1 p.m.