Women's Tennis 8/21/2017 2:30:00 PM Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications

Women's Tennis Picked Seventh In ECC Preseason Poll

2017 ECC WOMEN'S TENNIS PRESEASON POLL
Rank	School	Pts.	2015-16 Record
1	NYIT (6)	62	16-1, 7-0 ECC
2	Queens (2)	58	14-4, 6-1 ECC
3	LIU Post	43	6-5, 5-2 ECC
4	District of Columbia	41	7-7, 4-3 ECC
5	Roberts Wesleyan	35	12-11, 3-4 ECC
6	St. Thomas Aquinas	20	5-11, 3-4 ECC
7	DAEMEN	18	9-15, 1-6 ECC
8	Molloy	10	1-12, 0-7 ECC
( ) - first place votes

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's tennis team has been picked to finish seventh in the East Coast Conference standings during the upcoming 2017-18 season. A vote of the league's eight head coaches was compiled into the ECC preseason poll which was released today from conference headquarters in West Babylon, N.Y.

Daemen received 18 points in the poll, edging out eighth-place Molloy College (10 points). It marks the third-straight year that Daemen has been picked to finish seventh. Fifth-place Roberts Wesleyan College (35 points) and sixth-place Saint Thomas Aquinas College (20 points), a pair of teams which Daemen has battled in close defeats in each of the last two seasons, just outrank the Wildcats at this year's outset.

The Wildcats are coming off a 9-15 campaign in 2016-17 (1-6 in ECC play), setting the team record for most wins in a season. But, they'll enter the season without the services Hayle Scanlan (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian) and Karli Hollins (Orchard Park, N.Y./SUNY Geneseo), two of the most decorated players in team history who were lost to graduation. Veterans Gretchen Ringler (North Tonawanda, N.Y./North Tonawanda) and Jessica Robins (North Tonawanda, N.Y./North Tonawanda) return to lead the team this season. The duo has combined to make 124 starts in singles play and 100 starts in doubles play in their careers.

"I'm really excited for this season," said head coach Stephen Beatty who enters his fifth season at the helm. "We have a less experienced group than in year's past, but I'm confident that these ladies will do everything they need to in order to be successful. Hopefully we can string some wins together and really turn the corner as we continue to build this program."

Atop the poll sits New York Institute of Technology which received six of the eight first-place votes and 62 total points. The Bears, who rattled off 16-straight wins last season before falling in the NCAA Tournament round of 16, will be seeking their sixth consecutive conference championship. Today's announcement marks the fifth-straight year that NYIT has been tabbed as the favorite in the ECC preseason poll, and the Bears enter the season riding a 41-match ECC winning streak (regular season and conference tournament matches).

Queens College, which owns the last victory for an ECC team against NYIT (6-3 on September 18, 2012), earned the two remaining first-place votes and 58 points to finish second in the poll. The Knights earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament last season, finishing at 14-4 overall after advancing to the round of 16. Long Island University Post (43 points) and the University of the District of Columbia (41 points) round out the poll's top four vote-getters.

In addition to releasing the preseason poll, the conference office also announced that NYIT's Lena Dimmer has been tabbed the ECC Preseason Player of the Year. It's the second-straight season that Dimmer has earned that distinction. Last year she backed up the preseason accolade by earning ECC Player of the Year honors at the conclusion of the conference season, posting records of 16-2 in singles and 21-1 in doubles.

Daemen opens its 2017-18 season on Saturday, September 2 with a non-league match at St. Michael's College. The Wildcats' ECC schedule begins the following week when they visit Queens on Saturday, September 9.

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen women's tennis team, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenTennis on Twitter.

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Players Mentioned

Karli Hollins: 5' 5"; Senior

Hayle Scanlan: 5' 5"; Senior

Gretchen Ringler: 5' 5"; Senior

Jessica Robins: 5' 0"; Junior

Players Mentioned

Karli Hollins
: 5' 5"; Senior

Hayle Scanlan
: 5' 5"; Senior

Gretchen Ringler
: 5' 5"; Senior

Jessica Robins
: 5' 0"; Junior