High Point Women’s Lacrosse Voted Inaugural Big South Preseason No. 1

The High Point University women’s lacrosse team was voted No. 1 in the inaugural Big South Conference women’s lacrosse preseason poll, it was announced on Tuesday. The Panthers went 15-4 in both 2011 and 2012 and won the National Lacrosse Conference (NLC) regular season last spring.

The Panthers garnered seven out of eight first-place votes to lead the poll. Davidson got the other first-place vote and was ranked second followed by Longwood, Winthrop and Liberty. Coastal Carolina was ranked sixth followed by Presbyterian College and Campbell.

High Point’s first season of women’s lacrosse was 2011 and the Panthers went 15-4, setting a record for most wins by a first-year NCAA Div. I program. HPU went 6-1 in NLC play and won the NLC Tournament. Last spring, the Panthers played a more challenging schedule but went 15-4 again, went 7-0 in league play and advanced to the NLC title game. The NLC dissolved after the 2012 season with the teams splitting into the Big South and Atlantic Sun conferences.

High Point returns 11 starters from its 2012 squad, including the last two NLC Players of the Year: Grace Gaeng (Bel Air, Md./The John Carroll School) in 2011 and Mackenzie Carroll (Arnold, Md./Severn) in 2012. Last spring, Carroll led HPU with 71 points on 33 goals and 38 assists. Gaeng posted 67 points on 30 goals and 37 assists and she had a team-high 47 draw controls.

Junior defender Jasmine Jordan (Baltimore, Md./Eastern Technical) returns after totaling team highs of 48 ground balls and 29 caused turnovers along with 31 draw controls. Senior goalie Anna Wallingford (Littleton, Colo./Heritage) played in all 19 games, posting a 14-4 record with a 10.89 goals against average and .413 save percentage.

The season kicks off with a pair of home games against Virginia Tech on Feb. 15 and Florida on Feb. 17 at Vert Stadium.

High Point begins Big South play with a home game against Longwood on March 27. The Panthers play seven Big South regular season games. The Big South Tournament will consist of semifinals and a championship game on April 26 and 28 at the home of the No. 1 seed. The conference tournament winner gets an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

2013 Big South Conference Preseason Women’s Lacrosse Poll

   Rk   Team (first-place votes)    1     2     3     4     5     6    7     8   Points
   1.     High Point (7)            7     1    --    --    --    --   --    --    63
   2.     Davidson (1)              1     5     2    --    --    --   --    --    55
   3.     Longwood                 --    --     4     2     1    --    1    --    40
   4.     Winthrop                 --     1     2     1     1     2    1    --    36
   5.     Liberty                  --     1    --     2    --     4    1    --    31
   6.     Coastal Carolina         --    --    --     2     3     1    1     1    28
   7.     Presbyterian College     --    --    --     1     3     1   --     3    23
   8.     Campbell                 --    --    --    --    --    --    4     4    12

Note: points are based on a weighted system, with first-place votes receiving 8 points, followed by 7 points for second-place, and so on.