CACC-ECC Combined Preseason Polls Released; New Era of MTEN in 2024
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (February 19, 2024) -- A new era of men's tennis in the NCAA Division II East Region begins this spring as the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) and East Coast Conference (ECC) have combined to form one tennis league to compete for the automatic bid to the D2 East Region Tournament in early May at a site to be determined.
The conference will feature a CACC Division and an ECC Division. All teams in both divisions will play a full league schedule against the other teams in their respective division during the regular season and compete in a divisional tournament in late April. The winners of both the CACC Division and ECC Division following their respective tournaments will square off in the conference championship on Saturday, May 4. The winner will earn the conference's AQ to the NCAA Tournament. Several teams in both divisions will also square off against the opposing division during the regular season, but will not be counted towards the league standings for post-season qualification.
The ECC Division begins league play on Saturday, March 2, while the CACC Division will get started on Saturday, March 23. Both divisions feature numerous teams that are some of the top programs in the East Region on an annual basis, including Thomas Jefferson University and Chestnut Hill College in the CACC Division and St. Thomas Aquinas College and Queens College in the ECC Division.
The CACC also announced its preseason divisional poll on Monday, joining the ECC's divisional poll that was released a few days earlier. Two-time defending conference champ Jefferson topped the CACC side with nine points, including three first-place votes. Chestnut Hill was second with seven points. The Rams and Griffins have met in the last two CACC finals.
On the ECC side, Queens and STAC were tied for first place. Voting for the divisional polls were conducted by the conference's head coaches in the sport, as they voted on their respective divisions.
2024 CACC-ECC MEN'S TENNIS CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLL
CACC Divsion
1. Thomas Jefferson University 9 (3)
2. Chestnut Hill College 7 (1)
3. Post University 5
4. Dominican University 3
ECC Division
T1. Queens College 14 (2)
T1. St. Thomas Aquinas College 14 (2)
3. University of District of Columbia 7
4. Daemen University 5
() - First-Place Votes
ABOUT THE CACC
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference composed of 12 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The member institutions are Bloomfield College, University of Bridgeport, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Dominican (N.Y.) University, Felician University, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Post University, Thomas Jefferson University, and Wilmington University.