AMHERST, N.Y. - The men's tennis coaches in the East Coast Coast Conference have picked Daemen College to finish in fifth place this season, according to the ECC preseason poll which was released this afternoon from conference headquarters in Central Islip, N.Y.

The Daemen men's tennis team, which is currently in its fourth season of existence, enters its third season as a member of the ECC this spring.  Led by third-year head coach Stephen Beatty, the Wildcats received 10 points in the preseason poll, tied with Saint Thomas Aquinas College fof fifth place.

Three-time defending ECC champion N.Y. Institute of Technology was selected as the favorite once again.  The Bears, who feature ECC Preseason Player of the Year Thomas Lieb, grabbed all six first-place votes and totaled 36 points to top the poll.

Queens College (28 points) edged University of the District of Columbia (26 points) for runner-up honors, and Roberts Wesleyan College (16 points) sat six points ahead of DC and STAC for fourth place.

Daemen, which went 7-16 overall and 1-5 in the league during the 2014-15 season, returns 11 players from last year's roster, including perennial starters Joey Gentile (East Amherst, N.Y./Niagara University), Adam Kerr (Penfield, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit), John LeMar (North Tonawanda, N.Y./North Tonawanda) and Gregory Lowe (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora).  Additionally, Beatty's 15-man roster features four newcomers, including South American-transplants David Gonzalez Villegas (Pereira, Colombia/Liceo Frances de Pereira) and Jorge Arias (Santiago, Chile/American British School).

The Wildcats went 1-2 during their abbreviated fall 2015 season, opening with losses to Bentley University and Post University before jumping in the win column with a shutout of Houghton College.  Daemen also competed in a three tournaments last fall.

Daemen will resume their 2015-16 campaign by hosting Elmira College this Saturday, February 6 at Miller Tennis Center (12:30 p.m.).  ECC play gets underway on April 1 when the Wildcats visit Queens.
 

2016 ECC Men's Tennis Preseason Poll
School	Points	2014-15 Record
1. N.Y. Institute of Technology (6)	36	15-8, 6-0 ECC
2. Queens College	28	13-6, 5-1 ECC
3. University of the District of Columbia	26	8-9, 4-2 ECC
4. Roberts Wesleyan College	16	12-10, 3-3 ECC
T-5. Daemen College	10	7-16, 1-5 ECC
T-5. Saint Thomas Aquinas College	10	7-13, 1-5 ECC
first place votes listed in (  )