CLINTON, S.C. - The top seed Tusculum College Pioneers defeated #4 seeded Catawba College Indians 5-1 in today's Food Lion/SAC Men's Tennis Tournament semifinal match at Callaway Courts on the campus of Presbyterian College.

The nationally ranked Pioneers (T-40 in NCAA Division II), advance to tomorrow's 9:00 am championship match between the winner of the #2 seeded Bulldogs of Wingate University and the host and #3 seeded Blue Hose of Presbyterian College. Tusculum improves to 17-1 on the season while Catawba drops to 14-10.

The Pioneers took control early with a 3-0 lead after doubles. All three doubles matches were closely contested including Tusculum College's All-SAC standouts junior Johnanton Dunstan (Yatala Vale, Australia) and freshman Jesse Puckerin (Sudbury, Ontario, Canada) defeat of Catawba's All-SAC duo of senior Allen Klemish (Barcelona, Spain) and junior Evan Bowling (Pearlsburg, Va.) 8-6 at the #1 doubles flight.

In singles, the Pioneers went ahead 4-0 in the match after Dunstan defeated Klemish 6-1, 6-0 at #2 singles. Catawba got on the scoreboard with junior Patrick Parr's (Cuyahoga Falls, OH) win over the Pioneers' sophomore Alejandro Rojas (Caracas, Venezuela) 7-6, 6-1 at #5 singles. TC's Puckerin finished off the match for the Pioneers with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Catawba's All-SAC standout junior Alex Luc (Norfolk, Va.).

#1 TUSCULUM 5, #4 CATAWBA 1

SINGLES
#1 Roberto Robles (TC) vs. Evan Bowling (CAT) DNF
#2 Johnaton Dunstan (TC) def. Allan Klemish 6-1, 6-0
#3 Jesse Puckerin (TC) def. Alex Luc 6-3, 6-4
#4 Ben Leahy (TC) vs. Eric Noll DNF
#5 Patrick Parr (CAT) def. Alejandro Rojas 7-6, 6-1
#6 Wes Lehman (TC) vs. Alvin Owusu DNF

DOUBLES
#1 Dunstan/Puckerin (TC) def. Bowling/Klemish 8-6
#2 Robles/Leahy (TC) def. Luc/Owusu 8-3
#3 Rojas/Lehman (TC) def. Parr/Noll 8-5

RECORDS: Tusculum 17-1; Catawba 14-10

Both teams will advance to next weekend's NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Southeast Regional Tournament held in Winter Park, Fla. Rollins College is the host for this regional and will play Catawba College on Friday, May 3. In the other first round match, Tusculum will play Eckerd College. Game times will be set at a later date.