West Babylon, N.Y. - New York Institute of Technology, winners of the past five East Coast Conference Women's Tennis Championship tournaments, have been selected as the league favorite in the 2017 coaches preseason poll. Reigning ECC Player of the Year, Lena Dimmer (Wallendorf-Pont, Luxembourg) of NYIT, has been selected as the Preseason Player of the Year by the conference's coaches.
NYIT earned six of eight first place votes to top the poll with 62 points. The Bears completed their fourth straight run through ECC play with an unblemished record, finishing the year with a perfect 7-0 record against conference opponents. The Bears have now won 39 straight ECC matches including postseason play, with their last loss coming during the 2012-13 season. In addition to their domination in ECC play, the Bears continued their recent run of success in the NCAA Division II Championship by advancing to the Round of 16 for the fifth straight year. The Bears finished with a 16-1 record with their only loss coming in the Round of 16 to finish with a No. 35 ranking in the Oracle/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division II National Ranking.
Six student-athletes return from the Bears' 2016-17 roster, including last year's ECC Player of the Year, Lena Dimmer. In her first season at NYIT, she was nearly unbeatable, finishing with records of 16-2 in singles and 21-1 in doubles. Dimmer was even better during ECC action, finishing with a 7-0 mark in singles and doubles. Dimmer, who also earned ECC All-Conference First Team honors, was ranked No. 41 in the nation and No. 1 in the East Region in singles in the final Oracle/ITA rankings, as well.
Queens College received the final two first place votes to finish as the runner-up in the poll with 58 points. Last season, the Knights were ECC runner-up for the fifth straight year and also advanced to the NCAA Tournament Round of 16 for the fifth time in seven years. LIU Post and University of the District of Columbia round out the teams expected to advance to ECC Championship play with 43 and 41 points, respectively.
2017 ECC Women's Tennis Preseason Poll
| School | Pts. | 2016-17 Record |
| 1. NYIT (6) | 62 | 16-1 (7-0 ECC) |
| 2. Queens (2) | 58 | 14-4 (6-1 ECC) |
| 3. LIU Post | 43 | 6-5 (5-2 ECC) |
| 4. Dist. Columbia | 41 | 7-7 (4-3 ECC) |
| 5. Roberts Wesleyan | 35 | 12-11 (3-4 ECC) |
| 6. St. Thomas Aquinas | 20 | 5-11 (3-4 ECC) |
| 7. Daemen | 18 | 9-15 (1-6 ECC) |
| 8. Molloy | 10 | 1-12 (0-7 ECC) |
( ) - first place votes
