San Antonio – The Trinity Tiger men's tennis team will be the top seed, as the SCAC Championship Tennis Tournament gets underway on Friday in North Little Rock, Ark.

Trinity (13-9), ranked 14th in the NCAA Division III, received a first-round bye at the tournament. The Tigers stand 9-4 against Division III opponents this season, led by first-year head coach Russell McMindes.  Trinity will play the winner of Hendrix and Colorado College at 5 p.m. Friday at Burns Park Tennis Center.

The event will be held through Sunday, with the championship match scheduled for 8 a.m. The winner receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs.

The defending champion DePauw Tigers are ranked 16th nationally and enter as the No. 2 seed. DePauw beat Trinity 6-3 in last year's final, also played at North Little Rock. It marked the Trinity Tigers' 18th consecutive appearance in the SCAC Championship match.

Sophomore Max Frey of Tulsa, Okla. (Holland Hall), was named the 2009 SCAC Men's Tennis Player of the Year.

The Tigers have captured 14 SCAC Championships, starting with the team's first conference title in 1992.  The Tigers also won 13 straight championships from 1994-2006.  Coach McMindes served as an assistant for seven seasons before taking over this year.  Butch Newman had served as the head coach of Trinity's men's team since 1986, and has now taken over as the Director of Tennis.

Coach McMindes was a Tiger men's tennis player during the 2000 season in which the team won the NCAA Division III National Championship, under the direction of Coach Newman.