SoCon Men’s Tennis Championship Pairings Announced

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The ETSU Buccaneers went a perfect 7-0 in conference play, securing the regular season championship and the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament. The SoCon Men’s Tennis Championship will be contested on April 16-18 at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The Bucs finished the regular season with a 6-1 victory at The Citadel on April 8, pushing their overall record to 19-3. ETSU, who comes into the championship on a 19-match winning streak, looks to reclaim the tournament title after being upset in the semifinals a year ago. Prior to that, the Bucs had won the tournament every year it had been contested since rejoining the SoCon in 2014-15 school year. ETSU will face No. 8 seed The Citadel in the first round of the tournament on Thursday at 1 p.m.

On the same side of the bracket, No. 4 seed Mercer faces No. 5 seed Furman at 1 p.m. on Thursday. The Paladins edged out the Bears, 5-2, in Macon back on March 17. Both finished the regular season with a 4-3 record in league play.

In the bottom half of the bracket, third-seeded Chattanooga faces No. 6 seed UNCG at 3 p.m. on Thursday. The Mocs, who will be vying for their first tournament title since 2000, went 10-11 overall and 4-3 in SoCon play. The Spartans, the sixth seed for the second consecutive year, will be looking for their first tournament win since the 2017 season.

No. 2 seed Samford, the defending tournament champion, faces No. 7 seed Wofford on Thursday at 3 p.m. The Bulldogs went 14-6 overall and 6-1 in SoCon play. In the two teams’ first meeting this season, Samford was victorious, 7-0, in Birmingham on March 1.

Friday’s semifinals are at 2 p.m., with Saturday’s title match set for 1 p.m.
 
2026 SoCon Men’s Tennis Championship
Chattanooga, Tenn. – Champions Club
Thursday, April 16
Match 1: No. 1 ETSU vs. No. 8 The Citadel,  1 p.m.
Match 2: No. 4 Mercer vs. No. 5 Furman, 1 p.m.
Match 3: No. 3 Chattanooga vs. No. 6 UNCG, 3 p.m.
Match 4: No. 2 Samford vs. No. 7 Wofford, 3 p.m.
 
Friday, April 17
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 18
Match 7: Match 5 winner vs. Match 6 winner, 1 p.m.