CCC Pre-Season Coaches' Poll: Men's Tennis

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (February 11, 2020) – Nichols has been at the top of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's tennis world for the past eight seasons and will try to make it nine straight in 2020 as the Bison were selected first in the 2020 CCC Men's Tennis Preseason Poll.

The Bison earned 67 points in this year's poll including seven of a possible eight first place votes. The voting was conducted by the league's eight head men's tennis coaches last week.

During this stretch of eight straight CCC Tournament Championships, Nichols has only lost three conference matches. The 2019 campaign was its second straight perfect conference season as the school went 7-0 in league play and won each matchup 9-0. The Bison also swept their way through the conference tournament, winning their semifinal against No. 4 seed Gordon and the championship against No. 2 seed Western New England by scores of 5-0.

The CCC Tournament Champions drew Wilkes in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament and took a 5-4 defeat.

Roger Williams, a CCC semifinalist last year, landed in the No. 2 spot in this year's poll. The Hawks are looking to return to the CCC Championship for the first time since 2016, the final year of nine stretch of CCC Tournament Championship appearances. They earned 55 points in this year's poll and were the only other team to claim a first place vote.

If the poll is any indication, the 2020 season should be tightly contested as three schools earned 41 points to tie for the third place spot. One of those teams is 2019 CCC Tournament runner-up Western New England. The Golden Bears made their first-ever CCC Championship appearance last year after having a three game improvement in conference play and earning the No. 2 seed. Endicott and Gordon, both CCC Tournament contenders a year ago, were the other two schools tying for third.

Wentworth (23 points), Salve Regina (14), and Curry (12) completed this year's polling in that order.

Adam Zaccara '95 becomes the first former player to return as head coach of the Salve Regina tennis programs. "It is so great to call myself a 'Salve Seahawk' again," exclaims Zaccara. "I had some of the best memories of my life the four years I spent as a student athlete playing tennis for Salve Regina University. It is surreal to be walking back out on the same courts leading the teams to winning seasons again."

Salve Regina won three of its record 15 CCC championships during Zaccara's four years playing (1991-1995), and finished as runner-up in the non-title season. The 2019-20 Seahawks return senior Aaron White (Falmouth, Mass.) and junior Will Chasse (Greenville, R.I.) as captains for the young squad. Freshmen Samuel Johnson (Newington, Conn.) and Benjamin Resende (Fall River, Mass.) are ready to impact the lineup to help Zaccara in a building year.

The spring semester portion of the 2019-20 CCC Men's Tennis season begins on Friday, Feb. 14 as Endicott hosts St. Michael's in a non-conference matchup. Teams will get their spring break trips out of the way before returning home to begin conference play on Saturday, March 28. The top six teams in the conference standings at the end of the regular-season will qualify for the 2020 CCC Men's Tennis Championship Tournament. The tournament begins on Saturday, April 25 with two quarterfinal matches. The winners of those matches will move on to the semifinals on Wednesday, April 29. The league season will conclude on Saturday, May 2 with the CCC Tournament Championship match. The CCC Tournament Champion will earn the conference's automatic qualifier into the 2020 NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championship.

Click HERE to view the whole 2020 CCC men's tennis schedule.