NEWBERRY, S.C. - The Newberry College men's tennis team wrapped up its highest-ever finish in the South Atlantic Conference with a 6-3 victory over visiting Catawba College on Thursday.

Newberry, ranked No. 10 in the Southeast Region, ends its regular season at 6-7 overall and 4-2 in the conference. Catawaba, the eighth-ranked team in the region, is 18-5 overall and 3-3 in the SAC.

Things could have been interesting for the hosts with No. 1 singles player Maxim Sukharev out sick, but the Indians stepped up to clinch the third-place conference finish.

A strong start in the double portion saw Newberry take an early 2-1 lead on an 8-3 win by South Africans Daryl Van Vuuren and Jeremy Smith in the top flight, and an 8-0 sweep by the Atlanta-area duo of Scott Gates and Mikael Jurkovic.

Smith at No. 2 singles and Felipe Sobrinho at No. 3 singles won by identical 6-1 and 6-4 scores, and Lucas Mattos' 6-1, 6-0 win over Hector Bousoulas wrapped up the victory.

The Indians will host the first round of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference for the first time in program history. Newberry will host sixth-place Carson-Newman, which Newberry defeated 6-3 earlier this season.

Singles competition
1. Jose Velazquez (CATAWBA) def. Daryl Van Vuuren (NEW) 6-4, 6-2
2. Jeremy Smith (NEW) def. Sean Soltan (CATAWBA) 6-1, 6-4
3. Felipe Sobrinho (NEW) def. Fernando Aguiar (CATAWBA) 6-1, 6-4
4. Lucas Mattos (NEW) def. Hector Bousoulas (CATAWBA) 6-1, 6-0
5. Scott Gates (NEW) def. Cyle Petersen (CATAWBA) 6-3, 4-6, 10-4
6. Drew Ramsey (CATAWBA) def. Pavle Popovic (NEW) 6-4, 5-7, 10-7

Doubles competition
1. Daryl Van Vuuren/Jeremy Smith (NEW) def. Jose Velazquez/Drew Ramsey (CATAWBA) 8-3
2. Sean Soltan/Fernando Aguiar (CATAWBA) def. Felipe Castro/Felipe Sobrinho (NEW) 8-6
3. Scott Gates/Mikael Jurkovic (NEW) def. Cyle Petersen/Hector Bousoulas (CATAWBA) 8-0