MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Sunshine State Conference released its 2024 preseason Women’s Tennis Coaches’ Poll on Wednesday morning. The second-ranked Nova Southeastern Sharks, last season’s NCAA national finalists, were picked second in the poll for the fourth consecutive season, alongside No. 3 Lynn. NSU, under the direction of Head Coach Doug Neagle, received three first-place votes.
“We have an incredibly tough conference. We have multiple teams in the SSC nationally ranked and looking at these preseason conference rankings we know we have our work cut out for us,” said Neagle. “Our opponents will be hunting us, and we know we must put in the necessary work.”
Barry, ranked No.1 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), is picked to repeat as the SSC winner and received seven first-place votes.
| Rank | School (First Place Votes) | Total Points |
| 1. | Barry (7) | 78 |
| T2. | Nova Southeastern (3) | 70 |
| T2. | Lynn | 70 |
| 4. | Saint Leo | 57 |
| 5. | Tampa | 43 |
| 6. | Embry-Riddle | 42 |
| 7. | Florida Southern | 37 |
| 8. | Rollins | 27 |
| 9. | Palm Beach Atlantic | 17 |
| 10. | Eckerd | 9 |
Last season, No. 2 Nova Southeastern set a program record with 26 wins, including 12 victories over nationally ranked teams. The Sharks advanced to the NCAA National Championship, defeating No. 3 Saint Leo in the NCAA South Region II Championship, and earned wins over No. 15 Drury, No. 7 Columbus State and No. 4 Hawaii Pacific in the NCAA National Championship tournament.
During the fall, Natalie Espinal and Freya Davies won the ITA Cup Doubles National Championship.
No. 2 Nova Southeastern begins the 2024 season on Monday, February 5th, taking on Sunshine State Conference opponent Palm Beach Atlantic from the NSU Tennis Complex at Rolling Hills. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m.
To stay up-to-date on Sharks Women’s Tennis, be sure to follow on Instagram and X at NSU_WTennis.
