Concordia College is the pre-season pick to win the 2010 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Men’s Tennis Regular-Season Championship in voting conducted by the seven conference head coaches. Concordia was a unanimous choice to claim the title, while Philadelphia University was voted second on all seven ballots. Concordia is in its first year as a member of the CACC.
Concordia if coming off an outstanding 2009 season, during which
the Clippers won the NCAA Division II East Region Championship with
a 5-0 triumph over Merrimack College. The squad advanced all the
way to the semi-finals of the NCAA Division II Championships,
eventually falling to Barry University by a 5-3 count. The squad
closed the year with a 21-4 record. Concordia is currently ranked
ninth in Division II and will be led by two returning standouts in
senior Alex Grubin and sophomore Andrey Boldarev. Grubin and
Boldarev are currently the No. 1 ranked doubles team in the
country, and they rank second and third, respectively, in singles.
The Clippers are led by head coach Neil Tarangioli, who has guided
the program since 1980.
Philadelphia is the defending CACC regular-season and tournament champion after going 10-0 in conference play last season. The Rams upended USP, 5-0, in the tournament championship. Philadelphia, which will be led by first-year head coach, Charles Goods, returns all six players from its championship run, including the 2008-09 CACC Player and Rookie of the Year, Adrian Torroella-Cruz. Cruz, now a sophomore, won last season’s CACC Individual Championship by defeating his teammate, Manoli Sgouros, in the final match-up. Cruz and Sgouros went on to capture the CACC Doubles championship. In addition to Cruz and Sgouros, juniors Seppi Hutter and Tom McAvoy were also All-Conference selections. The Rams earned a spot in the NCAA East Region Tournament, but was upended by Stonehill College in the opening round.
USP was picked third with 30 points, just one vote ahead of Chestnut Hill College. USP advanced to the 2009 CACC Tournament Championship, but was upended by Philadelphia. The Devils went 8-2 in conference play, with the only two losses coming to the Rams. Junior Francisco Garcia returns to lead the Devils after being named to the All-Conference team last season. Garcia advanced to the semi-finals of the CACC singles championship last spring.
Chestnut Hill was chosen fourth by the coaches with 29 points and is coming off a 6-4 conference campaign last season to go with a 10-11 overall mark. The Griffins qualified for the CACC Tournament but fell to USP, 5-1. Leading a young team this spring will be junior Carson Richter, who finished last season with a 9-4 record in singles and 10-7 in doubles.
The rest of the poll is rounded out by Bloomfield College in fifth, Caldwell College in sixth and Post University in the seventh position.
The CACC team championship will take place on Tuesday and Thursday, April 20 and 22. The championship match will be hosted by Chestnut Hill. The individual tournament will also be held at Chestnut Hill on Friday and Saturday, April 23 and 24, beginning at 9:00 am on both days.
CACC Men’s Tennis
2010 Pre-season Coaches’ Poll
School 2009 Records Points
1. Concordia (7) 21-4/4-0* 49
2. Philadelphia 18-0/10-0 42
3. USP 11-8/8-2 30
4. Chestnut Hill 10-11/6-4 29
5. Bloomfield 4-9/3-7 21
6. Caldwell 3-11/3-7 18
7. Post 0-13/0-10 7
()-First Place Votes
*-Record as member of ECC