WINTHROP, Mass. – Colby-Sawyer earned the top spot in this year’s Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women’s Tennis Preseason Poll as it seeks its third-consecutive GNAC title.
The Chargers claimed 23 points in this year’s voting, including three first place votes cast by the league’s five women’s tennis head coaches last week.
The defending champions are coming off of an undefeated GNAC season as they went 6-0 (10-4 overall) in conference play to earn the top seed in the 2022 GNAC Women’s Tennis Championship Tournament. In the postseason, they swept Lesley in the semifinals before knocking off Regis, 5-1, in the Championship match. In NCAA play, Colby-Sawyer defeated UMass Boston, 5-2, to earn the school’s first women’s tennis NCAA victory since 2017. However, they would fall to host MIT in the second round.
Looking to end the Chargers’ championship streak will be Regis, which was picked second in the poll with 21 points and the other two first place votes.
Rounding out the poll in order were Simmons (16 points), University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) (10), and Albertus Magnus (5).
GNAC women’s tennis teams hit the court on Friday, Sept. 1 to begin their non-conference schedules with league play starting on Saturday, Sept. 16. Teams will complete a four-game single round robin conference season with the top-four teams at the end of the regular season qualifying for the 2023 GNAC Women’s Tennis Championship Tournament. The semifinal round is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 14 with the championship match a week later on Saturday, Oct. 21. The winner of that match will be named the 2023 GNAC Women’s Tennis Champion and earn the league’s automatic qualifier into the 2024 NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Championship in the spring.
2023 GNAC Women's Tennis Preseason Poll
| 1. | Colby-Sawyer | 23 (3 First Place Votes) |
| 2. | Regis | 21 (2) |
| 3. | Simmons | 16 |
| 4. | University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) | 10 |
| 5. | Albertus Magnus | 5 |
ABOUT THE GREAT NORTHEAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 16 member institutions and over 4000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 22 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.
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