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NILES — The Brandywine tennis team moved a step closer to locking up one of the top spots in the upcoming BCS Athletic Conference Tournament, which will be held Oct. 1 in Berrien Springs.

The Bobcats defeated visiting arch rival Buchanan 6-2 on Monday afternoon to improve to 7-1-1 overall and 3-0-1 in BCS matches. Berrien Springs is currently 4-0, while the Bucks dropped to 1-2-2.

According to veteran coach David Sidenbender, since there are six teams in the conference, the top two finishers in the regular season automatically advance to the conference quad. The remaining schools will have to play their way into the remaining two spots with a pair of qualifiers — No. 3 vs. No. 6 and No. 4 vs. No. 5.

Those qualifiers are going to be held either Monday or next Wednesday depending on how the schedules work out for those four teams.

Against the Bucks on Monday, Sidenbender saw his team continue to improve, both in the doubles, where they swept Buchanan, as well as in singles competition.

“Yes, the doubles continue to improve and get more consistent,” he said. “My No. 1 doubles of Josh Sachman and Caleb Byrd have really been playing well, and I very happy with their results this year. Singles are coming along. Jacob Fox is really playing some quality tennis the past three weeks. And our No. 4 singles, Corban Gamble, is quietly putting together an excellent year as well.”

Brandywine is back on the court today as it travels to Berrien Springs to take on the undefeated Shamrocks in a key BCS Athletic Conference match. Play is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m.

Buchanan (2-3-2 overall) picked up its two wins at No. 2 singles with Rylen Baker and No. 3 singles with Colby Borgman, both of whom won in straight sets.