DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols College men's tennis team has earned the No. 2 seed in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) tournament and will host the No. 3 seeded Gulls of Endicott College at 3:00 p.m. Wednesday at the Robinson Tennis Courts.

The Bison enter the conference tournament looking for their fifth-consecutive CCC Championship.

"This year's tournament is very exciting," said Nichols head coach Paul Brower. "There is a great deal of parody in the top four teams, and it really is anyone's game."

Nichols is led by five all-conference honorees – most notably freshman Blake Norton (Stratford, Conn.). Norton was a First Team – Singles pick and a Second Team – Doubles selection with classmate Aidan Stuart (Orange, Conn.). Senior Josh Halpern (Secaucus, N.J.), along with junior James Smith (Monte Sereno, Calif.) and Jake Zapatka (Wethersfield, Conn.), were all named to the CCC Third Team – Singles.

"It doesn't matter if it is the first or the fifth title you are going after at this point in the season you are going to face everyone's best effort," said Brower.

The Gulls (12-7-6-2 CCC) come into the matchup with the Bison fresh off of a 5-0 CCC Quarterfinal win over the Golden Bears of Western New England. Endicott is making its sixth straight CCC Semifinal appearance but have failed to make it to the championship each time – losing to Nichols three times over that stretch.

The Gulls are 7-1 in road matches this year, dropping their first match of the year before rattling off seven consecutive wins. Endicott is led by sophomore Christopher Kirkpatrick (Newburyport, Mass.) – last year's CCC Rookie of the Year – who was named CCC-First Team singles and doubles last week.

"Endicott is a very deep and talented team," said Brower. "They are well coached and I have no doubt that Coach Howard's guys will come to compete on Wednesday. It is going to take a total team effort to advance."

The Bison have won 10-consecutive matches against their CCC-rivals, with the last win for the Gulls in the series coming all the way back in April of 2009. Endicott fell to Nichols by a 6-3 score on April 10th earlier this season. The Gulls held a 3-0 advantage after doubles before the Bison rallied back to take all of the singles matches to secure the victory.

The winner of the match Wednesday will take on the winner between No. 4 Gordon and the top-seeded Hawks of Roger Williams.