SELINSGROVE, PA – The Susquehanna University women’s tennis team has been picked to finish second in the Commonwealth Conference in the upcoming season, according to the league’s eight head coaches.

Susquehanna, under ninth-year head coach Bob Jordan, finished 8-3 overall and 6-1 in the Commonwealth Conference last season, qualifying for the Middle Atlantic Conference playoffs for the first time since 1988. Six letterwinners return to the courts in 2002, including junior Tara McHugh, who has posted a 21-7 singles record in her first two years.

Six-time defending MAC champion Moravian, which finished 16-0 overall last season, earned the top spot in the poll, followed by Susquehanna, Messiah, Juniata, Elizabethtown, Lebanon Valley, Albright and Widener.

The top two teams in the Commonwealth standings will compete in the MAC playoffs along with the top two finishers from the Freedom Conference. Susquehanna’s last conference crown came in 1988 when the Crusaders captured the MAC Northern Division title.

The Crusaders open the 2002 season on Thursday, September 5 at home against King’s at 4 p.m. Susquehanna’s first conference game will be Saturday, September 7 at Widener.