Men's Tennis Picked Seventh in CCC Pre-Season Poll

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Two-time defending champion Nichols College has been unanimously voted as the favorite to win the 2014 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's tennis championship after receiving all nine first place votes for a total of 81 points in the CCC preseason coaches' poll. Roger Williams University, the 2013 runner-up, was selected second after earning a total of 72 points. Endicott College claimed third with 59 points, while Eastern Nazarene College placed fourth after receiving 56 points to round out the top billing.

Voting for the preseason poll was conducted among the league's head men's tennis coaches.

The top two teams in the 2014 preseason poll faced off for the CCC title a season ago. The Bison were victorious over the Hawks, as NC claimed its second consecutive CCC Championship with a 5-1 win. With the win, the Bison tied the program record for wins in a season (18), while earning the conference's automatic bid into the 2013 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship.

Nichols ended up breaking the single-season wins record with a 5-0 first-round win over Colby-Sawyer. The Bison unfortunately fell to nationally-ranked Williams 5-1, in the second round, but ended the 2013 season with a 2-2 record in NCAA tournament play over the last two years.

Wentworth Institute of Technology (6-8, 3-5 CCC) first-year head coach Tony Moschetto welcomes back four players from last year's squad, which made its third CCC tournament appearance in the last four years. An underclassmen-laden team, the Leopards will look to make another run at the tournament this year and will rely on Dylan Melnik, who went 5-4 in singles play with four wins in double play, James Drum, who earned five singles wins and seven doubles wins, and Josh Dowd to provide upperclassmen guidance.

All nine CCC men's tennis teams will start their quest for the 2014 conference title within the next two weeks. The six-team conference tournament will begin Saturday, April 26, with quarterfinal contests featuring the No. 3-6 seeds. The top two seeds in the regular-season standings will receive byes and host the semifinal matchups on Wednesday, April 30. The two semifinal victors will battle for the CCC championship on Saturday, May 3.

2014 CCC Men's Tennis Preseason Coaches' Poll