ROCK HILL, S.C. --- The Tusculum College Women's lacrosse team was chosen to finish in third place in the South Atlantic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, which was released Wednesday afternoon.

The Pioneers placed two players on the preseason first team, as attacker Cheyenne Bray and midfielder Kelsey Crow were selected in voting by the league's nine head coaches. The duo helped the Pioneers to a 10-5 record in their first season as a varsity program, and allowed Tusculum to finish in third place in the league with a 5-3 mark.

Crow, a senior from Franklin, Tenn., was named first-team All-SAC last season as she finished tied for second in the conference with 54 goals last season and ranked fifth with 66 points. She was fourth on the team with 20 draw controls and fifth with 13 caused turnovers, and scored at least one goal in all 15 matches for the Pioneers.

Bray, a junior from Collierville, Tenn., was a second-team All-SAC selection in 2015 as she tied for 10th in the SAC with 41 goals and was tied for seventh in the conference with 17 assists for a total of 58 points, which placed her second on the team to Crow and was good for a tie for eighth place in the league. Bray had a team-high 60 draw controls (tied for 7th in the SAC) and scored a team-high five game-winning goals.

Defending SAC regular-season and tournament champion Queens received eight of nine first-place votes from the coaches and had 72 points to take the top spot in the poll, followed by Lenoir-Rhyne which had the other first-place vote and 64 points. Tusculum was third with 53 points, trailed by Catawba (50), Wingate (48), Coker (40), Newberry (29), Brevard (22) and Lincoln Memorial (18).

The Pioneers open the 2016 season on Saturday, Feb. 6 at Pioneer Field by hosting Erskine. Their first SAC match of the season will be Saturday, March 6 at Brevard. The regular season ends on April 23 on the road against Wingate, followed by the SAC Tournament April 26-30 hosted at campus sites (first round) and at Queens (semifinals and finals).

- TC -

2016 SAC Women's Lacrosse Coaches' Poll
Rk Team Pts
1 Queens (8) 72
2 Lenoir-Rhyne (1) 64
3 TUSCULUM 53
4 Catawba 50
5 Wingate 48
6 Coker 40
7 Newberry 29
8 Brevard 22
9 Lincoln Memorial 18
First-place votes in parentheses

2016 Women's Lacrosse Preseason All-South Atlantic Conference
First Team
A- Cheyenne Bray, Tusculum
A- Maggie Masters, Queens
A- Alyssa Corace, Catawba
A- Jessica Baxtrom, Newberry
MF- Claudia Jenkins, Coker
MF- Kelsey Crow, Tusculum
MF- Brittany Larranaga, Queens
MF- Kelly Dowd, Queens
D- Bridgette Larranaga, Queens
D- Aarika Kaester, Queens
D- Marabeth Durden, Coker
D- Morgan Insel, Wingate
GK- Bethany Davis, Catawba

Second Team
A- Torrey Schwitkis, Lenoir-Rhyne
A- Haley McCusker, Coker
A- Caitlyn Nemeth, Brevard
A- Meredith Jones, Catawba
MF- Hannah Scott, Catawba
MF- Claire Wach, Lenoir-Rhyne
MF- Erin Murphy, Wingate
MF- Brittany Andrews, Wingate
D- Taylor Winters, Lenoir-Rhyne
D- Emily Kessler, Lenoir-Rhyne
D- Katie Thompson, Newberry
D- Sydney Dishman, Queens
GK- Ines Flueck, Lenoir-Rhyne