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2020 Northeast Conference Women's Tennis Preseason Coaches Poll                 1. Fairleigh Dickinson (4)                 2. LIU (3)                 3. Bryant (1)                 4. (tie) Sacred Heart                     Saint Francis U                 6. Wagner                 7. (tie) Mount St. Mary’s                     St. Francis Brooklyn                 First place votes in parentheses

 
   
Somerset, NJ -- It’s been a dominant three-year run for LIU, but the road to a fourth straight Northeast Conference (NEC) women’s tennis championship won’t be an easy one for the Sharks.
 
NEC head coaches expect a tight race for the title, with perennial contender and 2019 runner-up Fairleigh Dickinson edging LIU for first in the annual preseason poll. The Knights received four first place votes, one more than the Sharks.
 
Bryant was picked third and earned a single first place nod. Sacred Heart and Saint Francis U tied for fourth in the rankings, followed by Wagner in sixth with Mount St. Mary’s and St. Francis Brooklyn tied for seventh.
 
The Mercer County Tennis Center in West Windsor, NJ will once again serve as the venue for the eight-team single-elimination NEC championship from April 17-19. The winner will earn the NEC’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament field.
 
Fairleigh Dickinson won four NEC crowns in five years from 2012-16, and has posted runner-up finishes in two of the last three seasons. Fifth-year head coach Jeff Brandes has the luxury of returning a host of key pieces this season, most notably 2019 NEC Rookie of the Year and first team All-NEC honoree Aleksandra Vorozheikina (Tambov, Russia). Vorozheikina led all NEC freshman and tied for second in the conference with 17 wins. She posted a league-best 8-2 record at #2 singles, went 7-1 vs. conference rivals and was tabbed to the NEC All-Tournament team along with senior Patricia Eftenoiu (Bucharest, Romania/Colegiul National Gheorghe Lazar). Eftenoiu, a two-time NEC all-star who was tabbed to the second team a year ago, finished 17-7 with an 8-2 mark in #3 singles play in 2018-19. The Knights also return sophomore Smitri Singh (Guragon, India/Pathways World School), an All-Rookie honoree who ranked second among NEC freshman last season with 15 wins. Keep an eye on freshman Alena Kubanova (Kazan, Russia), the latest blue chipper to enter the FDU program. She was named the September NEC Player of the Month and was a two-time NEC Rookie of the Month last fall.
 
How much do NEC coaches respect the LIU women’s tennis program? The Sharks lost three-time NEC Player of the Year Anna Grigoryan and did not return a single player from their three-year run atop the conference, yet were picked a close second in the poll with a roster that features all newcomers. Based on fall results, second-year head coach Jan Griga looks like he’s restocked the cupboard with top-flight talent. Keep an eye on junior Valentina Dancenco (Chisnau, Moldova/Secondary School No. 17 (Hillsborough CC)), a transfer from Hillsborough CC, and sophomore Sofiya Kuzina (Moscow, Russia/School 90) at the top of the Sharks’ lineup.
 
Bryant has reached the NEC semifinals in each of the last six years and won it all in 2015. With six starters back for an experienced Bulldog squad, the pieces could be in place for another title run under 20th-year head coach Barbara Cilli. First and foremost, Bryant returns Ada Boru (Boca Raton, FL/Boca Prep International School), an All-NEC first-teamer and All-Tournament selection last season as a freshman. Boru immediately claimed the #1 singles spot for the Bulldogs, where she posted a 3-1 record in conference play. Junior Arianna Oropeza (Weston, FL/Cypress Bay) had led Bryant in wins in each of her first two seasons, and has compiled a 33-15 career singles mark. She was an All-NEC second team performer a year ago. Sophomores Sarah Hickey (Toronto, Ontario/Silverthorn Collegiate Institute) and Leanne Kendall (Lakeville, MA/Apponequet Regional) joined Boru on the 2018-19 NEC All-Rookie squad.
 
AROUND THE LEAGUE
 
Sacred Heart reached the NEC semis last year and brought back the bulk of that squad under third-year head coach William Boe-Wiegaard. Senior Brianne Lauria (Brielle, NJ/Manasquan) was a second team All-NEC honoree back in 2017-18.
 
One of the NEC’s most accomplished players is back for her senior season. The Mount’s Alexa Quintanilla (Lima, Peru/Colegio Maria Reina Marianistas) is a two-time All-NEC first team pick who has won 55 career matches. She posted a 16-11 dual match record as a junior with a 4-0 mark vs. league rivals.
 
St. Francis Brooklyn junior Jean-Na Koo (Lewisville, TX/Hebron) became the first Terrier in program history to earn All-NEC recognition last season when she was named to the second team after posting a 9-6 record at the #1 flight.
 
Lisa Swope had the interim tag taken off in the offseason and is now the head men’s and women’s coach at Saint Francis U.
 
Lynn Kiro was named head coach at Wagner after a decorated career at Texas Tech. She posted a 90-27 record during her four years in Lubbock. The 2018 graduate was named to the Academic All-Big 12 team in each of her four years.
 
The NEC has welcomed Merrimack to the conference as its newest full time member. The Warriors are ineligible to compete in the NEC Tournament until the 2023-24 season and do not appear in the preseason poll because the league does not conduct a round-robin regular season schedule.
 
About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 39th year, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 11 institutions of higher learning located throughout seven states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to a number of the largest markets in the United States - New York (#1), Boston (#9), Pittsburgh (#24), Baltimore (#26), Hartford/New Haven (#33) and Providence (#53).  Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 23 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 16 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Bryant, Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU, Merrimack, Mount St. Mary’s, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat, all @NECsports.