CCC Coaches Pick Women's Tennis to Finish Seventh
Leopards look to make their first league playoff appearance since 2009 when they open the season on September 1
CCC Preseason Poll Video
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Seeking its sixth straight Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship, the Endicott College women's tennis team has been selected to finish first in the CCC preseason coaches' poll. The Gulls, who finished with a 14-5 overall record (8-0 CCC) a season ago picked up six first-place votes and 77 total points to finish ahead of Nichols (68 points, two first-place votes) and Roger Williams (67 points, one first-place vote). Voting was conducted by each of the league's nine head coaches.
The three other teams that qualified for the Conference Tournament last year, Gordon (58 points), Western New England (44), and Salve Regina (32), were picked in the four through six slots, respectively.
Wentworth (27), Eastern Nazarene (20) and Curry (12) rounded out the poll in that order.
With seven letter winners returning from a season ago, first-year head coach Aaron Bergeron inherits a team on the verge of making an appearance in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament for the first time since the 2009 season. Leading the way for the Black & Gold is junior Caitlyn Briggs (Lee, Mass.), who played both No. 1 singles and doubles last season. Junior Sam Webb (Duxbury, Mass.), who played both No. 5 and No. 6 singles as a sophomore returns after tying for the team lead in victories last season. Sophomore Ellen Butts (Brookfield, Mass.), who tied with Webb for the team lead in singles victories played both No. 4 and No. 5 singles as a freshman as well as No. 2 doubles. Briggs' doubles partner, junior Emily Jodoin (Burrillville, R.I.), also looks to have a strong campaign in both doubles and No. 3 singles.
Eight of the nine CCC women's tennis teams take the court for the first time on Thursday, Sept. 1 to kick off the season with conference play beginning on that weekend on Sept. 3. The top six teams in the 2016 regular season conference standings will qualify for the CCC Tournament. The tournament gets underway Wednesday, Oct. 12 with the quarterfinals and concludes Saturday, Oct. 22 with the championship match. The Leopards open the season at Worcester State on Sept. 1.