New Haven, Conn. - (2/24/2021) – With their first conference match scheduled for a little more than three weeks from today, Wednesday, February 24, Chestnut Hill College received one first-place vote and 17 total points to rank second in the recently released 2020-2021 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Men's Tennis Preseason Coaches Poll. The league's head coaches place perennial powerhouse, Concordia College (NY) in first place, as the Clippers garnered the other four first-place votes and totaled 20 points to pace a field that also included the Griffins, Thomas Jefferson University (14 Total Points), the University of the Sciences (USciences) (11), and Dominican College (8).
 
Concordia College (NY) has been the CACC standard for over a decade, winning nine of the last 10 CACC Championships under Head Coach Neil Tarangioli. The Clippers return three 2019 All-CACC Second Team performers; junior Jan Godfrey Seno (Cebu City, Philippines), senior Henry Masters (Northampton, England), and senior William Nilsson (Bastad, Sweden), to a roster that went 6-2 during the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
 
Chestnut Hill College finished the 2019-2020 season with a 3-3 standing that included Scarlet and Gold victories over Kutztown University (W, 7-0 on September 23), Bloomsburg University (W, 7-0 on September 29), and the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) (W, 4-2 on March 9). On April 15, Oracle and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) provided some solace to the Griffins' muted season with junior Tom Pitchley (London, England) (#14 Singles/#3 Doubles), senior Kiki Dagneaux (Saint-Gervasy, France) (#17 Singles), and Erik Jorsal (#3 Doubles) earning East Regional Rankings. Pitchley was an All-CACC First Team performer in 2019 when he earned back-to-back CACC Player and Rookie of the Week on April 8 and April 16. He also appeared on the CACC Men's Tennis Weekly Honor Roll on April 3 and February 11, after earning the CACC Men's Tennis Player of the Month award in October, 2018.
 
The Griffins are already off to a strong start in 2021, as they took the court for the first time since March 9, 2020 with a neutral site match against National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I opponent in St. Joseph's University. Junior Gregory Joseph Kvint (Hungtingdon Valley, Pa.), and freshmen Domagoj Dugandzic (Stuttgart, Germany), and Joao Sousa (Pontevedra, Spain) scored consecutive Scarlet and Gold singles wins in the second (6-4, 7-6 (7-6)), fifth (6-3, 7-6 (6-4)), and fourth (2-6, 6-0, 7-6 (7-3)) flights, but the Chestnut Hill College rally fell just shy of its mark as the Hawks completed a 4-3 victory with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, win at number six singles.

The complete results of the 2020-2021 CACC Men's Tennis Preseason Coaches Poll are located below and also available with use of the provided links.
   

Rank. School	2019-2020	Points
1. Concordia College	6-2	20 (4)
2. Chestnut Hill College	3-3	17 (1)
3. Thomas Jefferson University	3-3	14
4. University of the Sciences	3-5	11
5. Dominican College	0-0	8

() - First-Place Votes