After a dominant spring season, the Roger Williams University Women's Tennis team is looking to pick up right where they left off entering this fall season.
 
"The team is really looking forward to getting started with our season," Head Coach Barry Gorman said. "We had an awesome spring season and are looking to keep that momentum going this fall."
 
In the spring, the Hawks ripped through the regular season going 6-0 and outscoring their opponents 50-4 before falling 4-5 to Nichols College in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Semifinals in a tightly contested match. However, the team returns many of their key contributors from a season ago as they seek their fourth CCC Championship.
 
"The players have worked very hard on their games this summer," Gorman said. "And we cannot wait for the matches to start."
 
Singles
At the top, the Hawks return a potent 1-2 combination in juniors Emma Place and Alessia Cahoon.
 
Emma Place received CCC Player of the Year honors last spring as she finished her second straight strong season for the Hawks. After going 15-2 and earning All-CCC Second Team recognition as a freshman, Place took her game to the next level last season as she went 6-1 in singles and received All-CCC First Team honors in singles. Overall, she has gone 21-3 in singles play during her career.
 
She will not be alone either as the Hawks also return Alessia Cahoon. In her time in Bristol, Cahoon has swept All-CCC First Team recognition in both singles and doubles while also taking home CCC Rookie of the Year as a freshman. Last spring, she went 6-1 in singles play and in her two years, she has gone a combined 18-4 in singles play.
While the Hawks certainly have star power, a large portion of their success in the spring stemmed from their success further down the lineup thanks to the strong play of returners Alexa DiCesare, Tanya Gianitsos, and Olivia Santoro.
 
DiCesare and Gianitsos enter their senior seasons coming off a quality spring. DiCesare went 5-2 for the Hawks in singles play and is 6-3 in her career. Meanwhile, Gianitsos went 4-0 last year to improve to 18-4 in her career.
 
In addition, Santoro should play a major role after going 5-0 in singles play last season.
 
Freshmen Grace Felix, Gianna Ferraro, and Gracie McCarthy also project to factor into the Hawks lineup this season.
 
Doubles
Roger Williams will feature a pair of new duos in the #1 and #2 flights this season following the departure of a pair of seniors. Cahoon has played almost exclusively alongside Heidi Martin the past two seasons at doubles one while Place also lost her partner from a year ago in Morgan Crimmins. The Hawks may decide to have their top two players join forces or could explore other combinations.
 
Last season, Place went 6-1 in doubles play to earn All-CCC Second Team honors in doubles. She is now 18-4 in doubles for her career. Meanwhile, Cahoon went a perfect 7-0 in doubles last season to improve to 19-3 across her two seasons.
 
Gianitsos, Santoro, and Kate Hardy also figure to play a role in doubles. The veteran Gianitsos has enjoyed a good amount of success in doubles during her career going 10-6 overall including 3-1 a season ago.
 
Meanwhile, Santoro and Hardy, both rising sophomores, return to Bristol. Santoro went 6-1 in doubles play last season while Hardy went 3-0.
 
2021 CCC Women's Tennis Preseason Coaches' Poll

	Team	Points (First Place Votes)
1.	Endicott	62 (6)
2.	Roger Williams	53 (1)
3.	Nichols	50
4.	Gordon	41
5.	Western New England	27
6.	Salve Regina	19
T-7.	Curry	18
T-7.	Suffolk	18

 
Overall
Despite seeing some key contributors graduate, Roger Williams returns a strong squad who should continue to be among the best in the conference.
 
The Hawks will open up their season on the road at Simmons on September 2^nd before attending a doubles tournament at Holy Cross on the 4^th.
 
"We have an early season doubles tournament at Holy Cross," Gorman said. "It will be great preparation for us as we begin match play."
 
RWU returns to campus for their home opener on Wednesday, September 15^th for a matchup with Curry. Start time is set for 4:00 PM.