DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols College men's tennis team will play in its seventh straight Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship Saturday at 10:00 a.m. when it travels to take on Eastern Nazarene.

"We are always excited to compete for a conference championship," said Nichols head coach Paul Brower. "We have been fortunate to have been in this position before but each time is unique and exciting for our program."

The Bison – who have won five-consecutive CCC Championships – is the No. 2 seed in the field for the third straight season and will take on the top seeded Lions in a rematch against the only conference team it lost to during the season. The last two seasons the Bison had fallen to Roger Williams in the regular season before avenging those losses with wins in the conference championship.

"This situation isn't new to our guys, we have had to play on the road a few times in recent years to compete for a title," said Brower. "Fortunately, we have had a number of folks who have stepped up and big spots and allow us to be successful. Hopefully this team will continue that trend and we can bring home the 2017 Conference title."

Eastern Nazarene (17-3) swept the CCC major awards this spring. Sophomore Alex Partyka (Moscow, Russia) was named the CCC Player of the Year and Henry Siercke (Hamburg, Germany) was tabbed the CCC Rookie of the Year. Andres Biondi (Barquisimeto, Venezuela) was selected as the CCC Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The Lions' 14th-year head coach Cristian Popa collected his third CCC Coach of the Year honor.

"Eastern Nazarene is a talented squad, Coach Popa has done a great job bringing in some new players to help put them in this position," said Brower.
The Lions handed the Bison their only loss of the calendar year in the l last match of the regular season in Quincy, Mass. The Bison fell behind 2-1 after doubles – only earning the No. 2 doubles win – before splitting the singles matches.

The Bison advanced to the Championship following a thrilling 5-4 win over No. 3 Gordon on Wednesday while the Lions knocked off No. 4 Roger Williams by the same score.

The CCC Championship is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, May 6th at 10:00 a.m. at the ENC Tennis Courts in Quincy, Mass.