West Babylon, N.Y. - Queens College received all six first-place votes to top the East Coast Conference Women's Tennis Preseason Poll, released on Friday afternoon. The coaches of the ECC also selected Luisa Auffarth (Butjadingen, Germany), a senior from Queens, as the league's Preseason Player of the Year.

Queens, the two-time defending ECC Regular Season Champion, is the overwhelming favorite heading into the 2019 season. The Knights look to continue their run as one of the top teams in the conference and East Region. Queens has made 18 straight trips to the NCAA Championship and has advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 in seven of the past nine seasons. Despite all their success, the Knights end their drought without an ECC Championship that dates back to 2010. They have come close, however, finishing as the runner-up to New York Tech (which dropped their program after last season) the past seven years.

The Knights return seven student-athletes from last year's squad including Auffarth. In her first season with the Knights, Auffarth earned a spot on the All-Conference First Team after compiling records of 12-5 in singles and 12-7 in doubles. In ECC play she was nearly unbeatable, wrapping up with a 5-1 record, mostly in the No. 2 flight. Auffarth also had a stellar showing at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) East Region Championship. Auffarth and since graduated partner, Reehan Reshad, won four matches to advance to the tournament's semifinals.

University of the District of Columbia was the runner-up in the poll after finishing last year with a 13-5 mark. St. Thomas Aquinas at No. 3 and Roberts Wesleyan at No. 4 round out the expected ECC Championship participants.

Daemen and Molloy round out the poll, coming in at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively.

2019 ECC Women's Tennis Preseason Poll

( ) - first place votes