SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Two-time defending champions in the CCC, the Endicott women's tennis team, has been voted to finish atop the league standings as voted upon by head coaches in the CCC Women's Tennis Preseason Poll.  The Gulls won a program-best 19 matches during the 2012-13 season and earned their first ever victory in the NCAA Division III Tournament this past spring.

Endicott earned 78 points in the poll with six of a possible nine first place votes.  Finishing second behind the Gulls was Nichols (69) who got one first place vote followed by Roger Williams (66), Salve Regina (52), and Curry (41) to round out the top five.  Roger Williams and Salve Regina also received a first place vote. 

Endicott entered preseason camp this August without two of their starting singles players and one doubles duo not returning for the 2013-14 season but the Gulls expect a strong core of returners, including junior tri-captains Natalie Egbert, Amy Heacox, and Chrissy Martel, and a freshman class looking to make an impact will help them return to the CCC Championship Match for a third straight season.

"We have a huge part of our team coming back and freshmen looking to fill the shoes of our lost players," said second-year head coach Jeremy Howard, who expect coming close to the accomplishments of last year to be a daunting task.  "We won the CCC, became the first team from the CCC to win a NCAA Tournament match, and set a school record for wins.  It will be tough to duplicate that."

The team beefed up their schedule a little bit this fall, keeping a tough regional powerhouse like Wellesley (August 31^st) and adding another in Babson (September 12^th).  More challenging opposition will hopefully lead to a prepared squad for the October CCC playoff bracket and another conference title.

Howard anticipates that the high-level of chemistry that already exists on his team will go a long way towards unifying veteran and first-year players, aiming at a common goal.  With no seniors on the roster, three junior captains, four sophomores, and four freshmen, there is a large percentage of student-athletes who have been members of the program for less than two years.

"The three junior captains have a great job so far through preseason of keeping everyone together.  It is important that everyone, especially the new players, feel like that fit in right away.  When you have great team chemistry then everyone is out competing, not just for themselves, but for their teammates as well."

On the court, the three captains have combined for a 138-28 (.831 winning percentage) combined record in singles and doubles play in their two seasons together thus far.  Combined, the three hard court stars also have five All-CCC awards.

Martel earned All-CCC First Team Singles and Doubles with Egbert in 2012.  Martel settled into the #2 singles position in the lineup last season and went 9-4.  Overall she was 13-7 (7-1 CCC) in singles play while on the doubles court, her and Egbert impressed with a 14-6 (6-1 CCC) mark at #1 doubles. 

Egbert went 18-2 overall and 7-0 in-conference in singles play last year as she earned All-CCC Second Team Singles honors to go along with her doubles award.  Egbert was a fixture at the #3 singles spot, suffering just one loss in 14 matches.

Heacox dominated with a 38-2 record in both singles and doubles play, including a spotless 20-0 standing in singles action last season.  Heacox was named All-CCC Honorable Mention in singles and doubles with her partner, sophomore Brittany Potter.  Potter as a freshman was mainly a doubles player with Heacox (16-2) but won two out of her three singles match ups. 

Endicott will also welcome back sophomore Suzie Newman who went 7-0 last year with two wins on the singles court and five wins in doubles play.  Newman was injected into the #6 singles position for the NCAA Tournament last May and will look to compete for a starting role this fall. 

Howard also expects a couple of the freshman to push for serious playing time this fall, including Mackenzie Rhodes out of Portsmouth High School in New Hampshire.

"Rhodes is about six-feet tall and may end up having the biggest serve in the conference right off the bat.  With the way she and some of the other freshmen are playing, that last singles position is up for grabs."

The CCC expects to be extremely competitive in 2013 with just a few points separate the first and third place teams and several teams picking up new talent and improving their games in the offseason.  Endicott begins their 2013-14 season on Friday, August 30^th with a non-conference home opener against Colby-Sawyer followed by a difficult match up with Wellesley on Saturday.  The Gulls kick off their CCC schedule on the road on September 7^th at their conference semifinal opponent from the past two seasons, Roger Williams.  Endicott will take on North Shore Cup rivals Gordon, also a CCC opponent, and Salem State this season and will anticipate a rematch of the CCC Championship against Nichols on September 29^th. 

2013 CCC Women's Tennis Preseason Poll