Women's Tennis Claims Top Spot on CCC Preseason Poll

2014 CCC Women's Tennis Preseason Poll Release
2014 Endicott Women's Tennis Roster

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Endicott, the three-time defending Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's tennis champions, have been voted by the league's head coaches to once again finish atop the conference standings in the 2014 season. The CCC released their annual preseason poll this morning which revealed that the Gulls (74 points) received three of a possible nine first place votes and are projected to finish ahead of Nichols (73 points), Roger Williams (69 points), Gordon (50 points), and Salve Regina (43 points).

This is the second straight season in which Endicott has been selected as the preseason favorite to the win the CCC. In 2013-14, Endicott captured their third conference title in-a-row, second straight under 2013 CCC Coach of the Year Jeremy Howard, and fourth since 2008. The Gulls went 9-3 during the regular season last fall and scored convincing 5-1 victories over Roger Williams (semifinals) and Nichols (finals) in the CCC Tournament, earning the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament in May.

The Gulls entered the NCAA Tournament after going 3-0 in their spring tune up matches and in their First Round match up with Farmingdale State, Endicott claimed a 5-2 victory for their second NCAA postseason win in program history. Endicott's tournament run came to a close in a Second Round loss to eventual national runner-up Amherst.

Endicott's dominance in 2013-14 and their prospect for success in 2014-15 can be attributed to the fact that their entire starting lineup returns this fall, including CCC Player of the Year senior Chrissy Martel (Westbrook, Conn.), three other All-CCC Singles players, and two All-CCC Doubles teams. Martel sported a 7-3 (5-1 CCC) record last season which included a 7-2 record at the #1 singles position while going 9-4 (5-2 CCC) in top doubles flight action with All-CCC First Team Doubles partner, senior Natalie Egbert (Gorham, Maine). Egbert was a fixture at the #3 singles spot (9-3) and accumulated an 11-3 (7-1 CCC) record over the course of the fall and spring seasons. She was named All-CCC Second Team Singles for her efforts in 2013-14.

Rising senior Amy Heacox (Marion, Mass.), a three-time All-CCC Singles and Doubles player including First Team Singles and Second Team Doubles with then freshman Mackenzie Rhodes (Rye, N.H.) last year, comes into her final season with a 91-14 (.867) career record. In her time split between the #1 and #2 singles flights, Heacox went 12-4 (7-1 CCC) and with Rhodes totaled a 14-4 (7-1 CCC) mark including 5-1 at the top doubles position. One of those #1 doubles wins came in Endicott's NCAA First Round win over Farmingdale State, 8-6 to give the Blue and Green a 3-0 lead going into singles action.

Martel, Egbert, and Heacox will once again serve as tri-captains for the 2014-15 season.

"We have a great balance of veterans and youngsters on the squad this year," said Howard. "It's always nice to be able to rely on such a solid group of senior captains like these women, who will push themselves and their teammates in an effort to close out their Endicott careers with four straight conference titles."

2013 All-CCC Honorable Mention Singles junior Suzie Newman (Dighton, Mass.) returns after spinning 14-2 (8-0 CCC) singles and 11-5 (6-0 CCC) doubles records last season. Newman contributed at both the #3 and #4 singles positions last season while teaming up with fellow junior Brittany Potter (Bedford, N.H.) at the #2 and #3 doubles flights. Potter, a 2012 All-CCC Second Team Doubles winner, also made an impact in singles play mostly at the #6 position by going 6-1 overall.

Rhodes, Skyelar MacLeod (Portsmouth, R.I.), and Jamie Zompa (Marlborough, Mass.) make up the list of returning sophomores to the 2014-15 roster. Rhodes appeared up-and-down the singles lineup card last season while MacLeod (2-0) and Zompa (3-0) made spot starts at #6 singles but teamed up to go 2-3 (1-0 CCC) in #3 doubles action.

Four freshmen are on the 12-member Endicott women's tennis team in 2014-15 and Howard expects that rookie Dayna Reilly (Swansea, Mass.) will be injected into the starting lineup right from the get-go.

"Dayna has raw power that rivals just about any player we see in our conference and once she starts harnessing it she will be a huge impact player."

Reilly is a First Team All-State honoree from LaSalle Academy. Fellow newcomers Maxine Bergstein (Hingham, Mass.), a Boston Globe All-Scholastic player out of Hingham High School, Katie Javaruski (Mansfield Center, Conn.), an All-Conference and Academic All-Conference winner out of E.O. Smith High School, and Hannah Kravetz (Wayland, Mass.), from Wayland High School, join Reilly on this fall's roster. 

Endicott starts their 2014 regular season with a pair of road, non-conference matches this weekend starting with a trip to New London, N.H. to take on North Atlantic Conference (NAC) rival Colby-Sawyer on Friday, August 29^th. The CCC schedule begins on Saturday, September 6^th with the team's home opener against Roger Williams followed a rematch of the last three CCC Championships as the Gulls host Nichols on Tuesday, September 9^th.

"The Nichols match has been on our radar ever since the schedule came out, the last few years we've been forced to travel to Nichols to win the conference, and this year we are hoping to change that."

The Gulls play back-to-back North Shore Cup matches on Wednesday, September 17^th (at Gordon) and Thursday, September 18^th (at Salem State). Endicott's Senior Day for Martel, Egbert, and Heacox will be held on Homecoming Saturday, September 27^th, with a CCC match against Eastern Nazarene. Three road matches lead into the CCC Tournament, including the regular season finale at Curry on October 4^th, before postseason play begins on Tuesday, October 7^th with the CCC Quarterfinals. The 2014 CCC Tournament champions will be crowned on Saturday, October 11^th with a NCAA Division III Tournament automatic qualifier on the line.