SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Endicott College has been designated as the favorite to win the 2014 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's tennis championship after receiving three first place votes and a total of 74 points in the CCC preseason poll. Nichols College, the 2013 runner-up, earned second place with 73 points and four first place votes. Roger Williams University claimed third with 69 points and garnered the remaining two first place votes, while Gordon College was selected fourth after receiving 50 points and Salve Regina University was tabbed fifth with 43 points to round out the top billing. After finishing the 2013 campaign with a seventh-place finish, Wentworth was picked to finish sixth, earning 31 points.

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

The top two teams in the 2014 preseason poll competed for the CCC title last season. The 2013 CCC championship match saw the Gulls claim their third-consecutive title as they defeated the top-seeded Bison, 5-1. This was the third-straight season that Endicott and Nichols fought for the CCC championship title. The Gulls' postseason continued at Amherst College where they competed in the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Endicott claimed a 5-2 victory over Farmingdale State to advance into the second round of the national tournament for the second time in program history. The Gulls saw their tournament run end after falling 5-0 to No. 2 Amherst, the eventual 2014 NCAA runner-up.

Wentworth Institute of Technology (5-8, 2-6 CCC) second-year head coach Erin Phillips returns four letterwinners from a 2013 squad that missed qualifying for the CCC Tournament by one match. Leading the way is junior Caitlin Corcoran (Brockton, Mass.), who followed up her 2012 CCC Rookie of the Year campaign by earning first team All-CCC honors at number one singles and was honorable mention All-CCC at number one doubles. Junior Nicole McColgan (Tewksbury, Mass.) tied Corcoran with eight singles victories last season, with six of them coming at number three, while also winning six matches at number two doubles. Classmates Laura Boyd (Woodstock, Vt.) and Nicole Mooney (Waterford, Conn.) also return as the Leopards look to make a run at the postseason. 

2014 CCC Women's Tennis Preseason Coaches' Poll

This weekend marks the start of the fall season for five of the nine CCC women's tennis teams. The six-team conference tournament will begin Tuesday, October 7, 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 Thursday, October 9. The two semifinal victors will battle for the CCC championship on Saturday, October 11.

Click HERE to view the 2014 CCC Women's Tennis composite schedule.

(Portions of this release courtesy of the Commonwealth Coast Conference office)