West Babylon, N.Y. – NYIT and Queens College's men's tennis teams will enter the season as co-favorites after tying for the top spot in the league's preseason coaches' poll. In addition, NYIT junior Francisco Caldas (Braga, Portugal), has been voted the conference's Preseason Player of the Year.
NYIT and Queens, who have combined to win the past nine ECC Championships and have met in the final of the ECC Championship in each of the past five season, both earned three first place votes and 33 points to top the poll. St. Thomas Aquinas College came in third place with 20 points, while University of the District of Columbia rounds out the expected playoff teams with 20 points and a fourth place finish.
Queens won its second straight ECC Championship in 2018 and also earned a 17th straight appearance in the NCAA Division II Championship. The Knights also advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 for the second straight season and finished with a No. 49 ranking in the Oracle/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Poll. The Knights have reason for optimism with seven returnees from last year's squad including All-Conference honorees Cosme Jubera and Richard Sec, as well as the reigning ECC Rookie of the Year, Hugo Evangelista de Andrade.
NYIT shares the top spots with Queens after winning their fourth ECC Regular Season Championship in five years in 2018. The Bears continued a long string of consecutive NCAA Championship appearances as well, making the field for a seventh straight season. NYIT has five members of last year's squad returning, including Caldas.
The Preseason Player of the Year honor goes to Caldas after he was an All-Conference First Team selection a year ago. Currently the No. 10 ranked singles player in the East Region by the ITA, Caldas recorded a 14-2 singles record in 2018, mostly at the No. 2 flight. Caldas was even better during conference play, finishing with a perfect 5-0 record.
2019 ECC Men's Tennis Preseason Poll
| School | Pts. | Last Year's Record |
| T1. NYIT (3) | 33 | 12-3 (5-0 ECC) |
| T1. Queens (3) | 33 | 20-6 (4-1 ECC) |
| 3. St. Thomas Aquinas | 20 | 11-7 (2-3 ECC) |
| 4. Dist. Columbia | 18 | 7-7 (3-2 ECC) |
| 5. Roberts Wesleyan | 15 | 5-15 (0-5 ECC) |
| 6. Daemen | 7 | 7-17 (1-4 ECC) |
( ) - first place votes
Preseason Player of the Year: Francisco Caldas, Jr., NYIT
