SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Defending Southern Conference regular-season champion Samford was picked to win the league again in 2015 in preseason voting by the SoCon’s 10 head coaches. The coaches also selected an 11-member preseason all-conference team, with ETSU leading the way with three selections.

Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams or players in the balloting.

Samford collected five first-place votes and 74 points to edge runner-up Furman, which earned three first-place votes and 72 points. ETSU finished a close third with 69 points and the remaining two first-place votes. Defending SoCon tournament champion Mercer finished fourth in the preseason poll with 61 points.

The Bulldogs went 14-8 overall and 7-2 in the SoCon last season to claim their second regular-season title and first since 2011. Samford boasts a pair of preseason all-conference selections in midfielder Jermaine Seoposenwe and defender Anna Allen, both of whom were first-team all-conference picks last year, and is led by reigning SoCon Coach of the Year Todd Yelton. Seoposenwe finished fifth in the league last season with 31 points on nine goals and 13 assists, while Allen was a third-team NSCAA all-region selection.

Furman put two-time SoCon Player of the Year Stephanie DeVita (midfield) and 2013 SoCon Freshman of the Year Carlie Couch (forward) on the preseason team. DeVita enters her senior campaign tied for third in SoCon history with 50 career goals and tied for fourth with 119 career points. DeVita, who has averaged more than 16 goals per season so far in her career, needs just 10 in 2015 to become the conference’s all-time leader.

ETSU’s Sarah Zadrazil, who matched the SoCon record and led NCAA Division I with 20 assists last year, was a preseason all-conference pick at forward this year, alongside teammates Molly Collinson and Paola Roversi in the midfield. Roversi was an all-freshman pick last season for the Bucs, who led the nation in scoring offense, assists per game and points per game in their first season back in the SoCon.

Mercer put two student-athletes on the preseason all-conference team in defender Sarah Daane, a second-team All-SoCon pick last year, and goalkeeper Maggie Cropp, who led the league with a 0.84 goals-against average and was a first-team all-conference pick and the most valuable player of the SoCon Championship.

UNCG, which finished fifth in the preseason poll with 48 points, completed the preseason all-conference team with a pair of picks, forward Chesney White and defender Georgia Brown. White, a first-team All-SoCon selection in 2014, enters her senior season second only to DeVita among active league players with 61 career points and 26 career goals. Brown was a second-team all-conference selection last season.

Western Carolina finished sixth in the preseason poll with 41 points, followed by Wofford in seventh with 32. The Citadel was eighth with 24 points, with Chattanooga (16) and VMI (13) rounding out the poll.

The 2015 regular season begins on Friday, Aug. 21, with nine league teams in action. The 2015 SoCon Women’s Soccer Championship will include all 10 members, with first-round matches between seeds 7-10 on campus sites on Oct. 28, followed by quarterfinals on campus sites on Oct. 31 or Nov. 1. The semifinals and final will be played at Furman’s Eugene Stone III Stadium in Greenville, S.C., on Nov. 6 and 8, respectively.


2015 Women’s Soccer Preseason Coaches’ Poll
1. Samford (5)    74
2. Furman (3)    72
3. ETSU (2)    69
4. Mercer    61
5. UNCG    48
6. Western Carolina    41
7. Wofford    32
8. The Citadel    24
9. Chattanooga    16
10. VMI    13

() denotes first-place votes

2015 Women’s Soccer Preseason All-Conference Team
F    Sarah Zadrazil, ETSU
F    Carlie Couch, Furman
F    Chesney White, UNCG
MF    Molly Collinson, ETSU
MF    Paola Roversi, ETSU
MF    Stephanie DeVita, Furman
MF    Jermaine Seoposenwe, Samford
D    Sarah Daane, Mercer
D    Georgia Brown, UNCG
D    Anna Allen, Samford
GK    Maggie Cropp, Mercer