OFFICIAL USA SOUTH RELEASE LINK

BREVARD, N.C. – The USA South Conference women's lacrosse head coaches released their annual preseason coaches poll, selecting the Brevard College women's lacrosse program to finish in sixth place in the standings.

Meredith College was placed atop the rankings thanks to receiving 80 total points and eight of the possible ten first-place votes. The Avenging Angels finished last season with an unblemished 10-0 Conference record which extended their regular season winning streak against league opponents to 53 games. Southern Virginia University, last year's USA South tournament runners-up, was second in the poll with 74 points and the final two first-place votes while Methodist University rounded out the top three with 63 points.

Meredith is picked to capture the USA South title for the seventh consecutive year. Since the Conference's first women's lacrosse preseason poll in 2003, the team chosen first has won the Conference championship 17 out of 19 years. In the two years in which the preseason favorites did not win the League title, the eventual winners were chosen as the fourth-place team by the coaches in that particular year's preseason poll (Shenandoah-2004 and Meredith-2014).

Piedmont University was selected fourth with 59 points, while Pfeiffer University narrowly edged Brevard with 44 points for fifth place. The Tornados earned 41 points for sixth place and were followed by Huntingdon College (7^th, 34 points), NC Wesleyan College (8^th, 31 points), William Peace University (9^th, 13 points), and Greensboro College (10^th, 11 points).

The 2023 USA South Women's Lacrosse Tournament will once again be conducted exclusively on campus sites. The top-eight seeded teams will advance to the tournament which will begin with first-round action on Tuesday, May 2, hosted by the higher-seeded teams in those contests. The semifinals and finals will be hosted by the highest-remaining seed after the first round and take place Friday and Saturday, May 5-6.

BC women's lacrosse returns a majority of its key contributors from last season while also welcoming four new faces to the program. Returning sophomore attacker Emily Denaga led all Tornados with 44 goals while also setting a new program record with 99 draw controls won, while senior attacker Parker Moore was second on the squad with 42 goals and 17 assists for a team-leading 59 points.

To follow the latest news and updates surrounding Brevard College Athletics, follow the Tornados on Twitter and Instagram @bctornados, subscribe to 'Brevard College Tornados' on YouTube, follow 'Brevard College Tornados' on SoundCloud, and 'Brevard College Athletics' on Facebook. In addition, follow 'brevardcollege' on Flickr for photos from Brevard College events.

-BC-