LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- The Covenant men's tennis team will play for its first USA South Tournament championship on Saturday as the No. 1 West seed Scots head to Rocky Mount, N.C., to take on No. 1 East seed N.C. Wesleyan.

Match time is set for 2 p.m. Live video coverage is scheduled to be available (link above).

Covenant (13-5) advanced to the title match with a thrilling, 5-4 victory over Piedmont in the first round of the tournament on April 23. With the match tied at 4-4, Ethan Gibson rallied for a three-set win to get the Scots into the title match for the first time.

The Scots claimed the USA South West Division regular season title for the third time in the last four completed seasons. Covenant went 5-0 during the regular season against the West, with four sweeps. Head coach John Hirte, in his ninth season, was the named the USA South Coach of the Year while Ben Luke and Austin Dreslinski were first team All-USA South selections. 

Covenant's current winning percentage of .722 is the second-best in program history. The Scots have won six of the last seven matches overall, with the lone loss coming at Division I foe Chattanooga.

To get the conference crown and the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournamant, the Scots will have to go through perennial USA South power N.C. Wesleyan.

The Battling Bishops (19-2, 5-0 USA South) have won 19 straight matches and advanced to the championship with a 7-2 win over Averett on April 25. N.C. Wesleyan has won 11 straight USA South Tournament titles dating back to 2009.

N.C. Wesleyan had three All-USA South first team honorees in John Falke, Roberto Puig, and Juan Vallejo.

Saturday's meeting will be the fourth all-time between the programs, and the first since 2016.

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