Posted: Feb 22, 2017

Torgrimson's troops tabbed to finish eighth in coaches' pre-season poll

Kevin Brocks and his Seahawk teammates will hit their first serves of the spring at UMass Dartmouth (March 21).

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Nichols men's tennis team picked up 78 points and six first place votes to earn the top spot in the 2017 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Preseason Poll. The Bison are in search of their sixth straight conference title.

The preseason poll voting was conducted by the league's nine men's tennis head coaches.

Nichols, which went 7-1 in CCC play (20-5 Overall), was the second seed in last year's championship tournament after losing the tiebreaker to the top seed Roger Williams, which also finished 7-1 in conference. As the No. 2 seed, the Bison received a bye into the CCC Semifinals where they defeated No. 3 seed Endicott to set up a championship match with the Hawks. It was the sixth straight year that the two teams faced off for the conference title. The reigning champions found themselves down 3-1 early, but were able to pick up four more wins in singles to claim the conference crown indoors at the Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I.

In the NCAA Tournament, the Bison advanced to the second round by besting Colby-Sawyer, 5-4, before succumbing to Bowdoin, 5-0.

Three other teams received first place votes on this year's ballot. Endicott, a CCC semifinalist a year ago, ranked second in the poll with 64 points and one first place vote. The Gulls were followed closely by last year's CCC runner-up, Roger Williams, with 61 points and a first place vote. Eastern Nazarene received the final first place vote, ranking fourth on the table with 59 points. Gordon rounded out the top five with 53 points.

Western New England (34 points), Wentworth (25), Salve Regina (21), and Curry (10) closed out the poll in that order.

Salve Regina first-year head coach Peter Torgrimson earned a victory in his very first match with the men's program last September (7-2 versus Wheelock), and then endured two weather-related postponements before hosting his second event with the Seahawks - a combined dual match (men's and women's programs) with Johnson and Wales.

"What tremendous energy! It was so fun to see all the parents, students, fans, and staff come out to support the teams. It was rewarding to look around the courts and see how everyone's game has improved. There is still work to be done but it's nice to see when the hard work pays off."

Salve Regina will be led by captains Kevin Brocks (Albany, N.Y.) and Will Masse (Wyoming, R.I.), both juniors. Masse won a pair of singles matches in the fall including a three-set battle with the Wildcats.

The spring portion of the men's tennis gets underway on Sunday, Feb. 26, with Endicott's non-conference match with Stonehill. The conference schedule begins on Saturday, March 25 with four matches on the docket. The top six teams in the conference standings will qualify for the CCC Men's Tennis Championship Tournament, which begins with the quarterfinal round on Saturday, April 29 and concludes with the championship match on Saturday, May 6. The CCC Tournament Champion will earn the league's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championship.

Click HERE to view the whole 2016-17 CCC men's tennis schedule.