West Babylon, N.Y. - The women's tennis coaches of the East Coast Conference have selected Queens College as the favorite to capture the league's championship this Fall. The conference's coaches have also selected New York Institute of Technology standout, Ivana Andric (Griesheim, Germany), as the Preseason Player of the Year.
Queens earned five of eight first places votes and 61 points to claim the top spot in the league's preseason ranking. The Knights outlook for 2018-19 is bright with only one departure from last year's roster that finished as ECC Regular Season Champions and as the runner-up in the ECC Championship for the sixth straight year a season ago. Queens also made their 17th straight NCAA Tournament appearance and advanced to the Round of 16 for the sixth time in the past eight years.
Coming in at No. 2 in the poll with three first place votes is six-time defending league champion, NYIT. The Bears had a nearly 40 match ECC winning streak snapped during last year's regular season, but bounced back with back-to-back thrilling 5-4 victories over LIU Post and Queens to earn their sixth straight ECC title. The Bears joined Queens in the NCAA Tournament, with a sixth straight selection.
NYIT will have a new look this season with only three returnees from last year's roster, but one of the three is the conference's Preseason Player of the Year, Ivana Andric. Last season, Andric burst on to the scene in her first year of collegiate competition with a singles record of 16-6 and a doubles mark of 14-4. She was even better in conference play, finishing with a 6-1 mark in both singles and doubles. Some other impressive feats of her debut season included advancing to the semifinals of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) East Region Championship and clinching the ECC title for the Bears with a three-set victory in the deciding match against Queens. For her efforts, Andric was awarded the ECC and the ITA East Region Rookie of the Year honors.
LIU Post and University of the District of Columbia come in at No. 3 and No. 4 in the poll to round out the teams expected to advance to the conference tournament. LIU Post has made five straight ECC Championship appearances, while UDC looks to make it back to the postseason after having a streak of six straight appearances snapped a year ago.
2018 ECC Women's Tennis Preseason Poll
| School | Pts. | 2017-18 Record |
| 1. Queens (5) | 61 | 11-5 (7-0 ECC) |
| 2. NYIT (3) | 57 | 10-7 (4-3 ECC) |
| 3. LIU Post | 46 | 8-4 (6-1 ECC) |
| 4. Dist. Columbia | 41 | 4-8 (4-3 ECC) |
| 5. St. Thomas Aquinas | 32 | 10-11 (4-3 ECC) |
| 6. Roberts Wesleyan | 27 | 10-7 (2-5 ECC) |
| 7. Daemen | 15 | 10-14 (1-6 ECC) |
| 8. Molloy | 9 | 0-10 (0-7 ECC) |
( ) - first place votes
