AMHERST, N.Y. – Daemen University was tabbed fourth in the 2024 East Coast Conference Women's Tennis Preseason Coaches' Poll following a vote of the leagues six coaches.
Queens College, the defending ECC Regular Season champions, received four first-place votes and topped the poll with 34 points. Defending ECC Tournament champions St. Thomas Aquinas College finished second in the poll, garnering two first-place votes (31 points) and the University of the District of Columbia (24 points) rounded out the top three. The Wildcats, who were tabbed fourth in the preseason poll last season as well, earned 18 points to come fourth in the poll. D'Youville University (11) and Molloy University (8) were the final two teams in the preseason poll.
After helping to lead the Wildcats back to the ECC Tournament for the fourth straight year, head coach Richard Greco Jr. returns for his fourth season at the helm and returns five players from last season's team while welcoming eight newcomers for a Division II-era record 13 player squad. During the 2023 campaign, the Wildcats went 7-12 with a 2-3 ledger in ECC action.
2023 ECC First-Team selection
Kitsa Scime (Williamsville, N.Y.) and graduate student
Frida Rubio (San Diego, Calif.) highlight the returning players for the Wildcats. The ECC Rookie of the Year and Second Team All-ECC pick as a freshman in 2021-22, Rubio has played in 67 singles matches over her career and ranks sixth in career singles wins at Daemen with 31. As for Scime, she went 15-7 in singles play overall (13-5 in dual matches) and 11-12 in doubles play, primarily paying No. 2 singles throughout last season. It marked the second-straight year she has posted 15 singles wins, which ranks as the second most in a season in program history, only three behind Chirstina Stasiuks' 18 during the 2017-18 campaign. Scime is also 12 wins shy of breaking Stasiuk's program record for career singles wins with 49.
Daemen's 2024 Fall schedule features 13 traditional dual matches, starting on Sept. 7 at 1 p.m. when the Wildcats face Houghton on the road. ECC play for the Wildcats begins on Sept. 20 when they play District of Columbia at home.
The ECC Women's Tennis Championship is set for Oct. 25-26 in Flushing, N.Y., with the top four teams qualifying.
2024 ECC Women's Tennis Preseason Poll
1. Queens (4) - 34
2. St. Thomas Aquinas (2) - 31
3. District of Columbia - 24
4.
Daemen - 18
5. D'Youville - 11
6. Molloy – 8
( ) denotes first place votes
Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.
