ROCK HILL, S.C. --- Tusculum University was selected to finish eighth in the South Atlantic Conference, while three members of the Pioneers were chosen to the SAC Preseason All-Conference team as announced Tuesday by the conference office.

Earning second-team All-Conference honors for the Pioneers is sophomore Sydney Grant, while sophomore defender Marja Enste and senior goalkeeper Grayson Patterson are third-team honorees. Voting for the preseason All-Conference team was conducted by the media relations offices of each of the 12 schools in the league.

The Pioneers took eighth place in the SAC last season with a 3-3-5 conference record, and ended the year with a 9-4-5 overall mark. Longtime head coach Mike Joy announced his retirement following the season, with assistant Vanessa Fyffe taking over at her alma mater to start the 2023 campaign.

Grant made 16 starts last season as a freshman, finishing fourth on the team with five goals and 13 points and tying for fifth with three assists. The Schaumburg, Illinois native was honored as SAC Player of the Week after scoring three goals in two matches during the week of September 26-October 2.

Enste started all 18 matches during her freshman season, finishing the year with a goal and four assists while playing 1,593 of a possible 1,620 minutes. The native of Aachen, Germany scored her lone goal of the year in her collegiate debut at King on August 25, and had two assists at Emory & Henry on Oct. 12.

Patterson started all 18 matches in goal for the Pioneers during the 2022 season, finishing seventh in the SAC in goals against average at 1.12 and fifth in save percentage at .789. Patterson was fourth in the league with 75 saves while her seven shutouts were fifth in the conference. The Maryville, Tennessee product was a two-time SAC Defensive Player of the Week honoree, including during a stretch in mid-October when she recorded three straight shutouts and four in a span of five matches.

Catawba took the top spot in the preseason poll with eight first-place votes and 118 points. Lenoir-Rhyne, last year's conference regular-season champion, had the other four first-place votes and 114 points, followed by Wingate in third (96 points) and Carson-Newman fourth with 92 points.

Limestone (81 points) is fifth, followed by Anderson (75), Newberry (55) and Tusculum (46) in eighth. Lincoln Memorial (43 points) takes ninth in the poll, with Coker (33), Mars Hill (26) and Emory & Henry (13) rounding out the 12 teams.

Tusculum will begin its 2023 season on Friday, Sept. 1 at West Alabama, and visits Lenoir-Rhyne for its conference opener on Saturday, Sept. 9.

2023 SAC Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll

2023 SAC Women's Soccer Preseason All-Conference
First Team
F – Elin Hansson, Lenoir-Rhyne
F – Hannah Dunn, Catawba
F – Helen Summerell, Catawba
F – Jaidyn Jacobs, Newberry
MF – Sydney Jimmo, Catawba
MF – Kasey Hahn, Catawba
MF – Caroline Peters, Wingate
MF – Ria Acton, Lenoir-Rhyne
D – Kelly Havens, Catawba
D – Louise Berg, Lenoir-Rhyne
D – Kate Casey, Lenoir-Rhyne
D – Sascha Larsen, Wingate
GK – Samantha Aguilar-Hopkins, Limestone

Second Team
F – Sydney Grant, Tusculum
F – Emma Deadwyler, Anderson
F – Brianna Ditillo, Wingate
F – Addie Henry, Carson-Newman
MF – Neve Duston, Lenoir-Rhyne
MF – Camryn Woods, Anderson
MF – Carola Busquets, Lenoir-Rhyne
MF – Marianne Ross, Mars Hill
D – Carly Keuffer, Anderson
D – Nicole Cristy, Wingate
D – Nour Noujaim, Coker
D – Abbie Zander, Carson-Newman
GK – Katrine Thisgaard, Wingate

Third Team
F – Corinne Denton, Lincoln Memorial
F - Stina Roswall, Limestone
MF – Evan O'Leary, Lenoir-Rhyne
MF – Felicia Frick, Carson-Newman
MF – Sharon Mayes, Catawba
MF – Bethany Anderson, Anderson
D – Kristen Cole, Anderson
D – Meggie Powell, Anderson
D – Marja Enste, Tusculum
D - Emily Castaneda, Newberry
GK – Grayson Patterson, Tusculum