New Haven, Conn. - Defending champ Georgian Court University was tabbed first in the 2022 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Softball Preseason Coaches Poll, announced Friday by Commissioner Dan Mara. The Lions earned 147 points in the voting, including eight first-place votes. The voting for the poll was conducted by the league's 13 head coaches in the sport.

The Lions, which for the second time in program history (2009) came within one win of its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II Softball Championship after advancing to the East Regional Tournament finale (vs. Saint Anselm), are also ranked #19 nationally in the recently-released National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) NCAA Division II Top-25 Preseason Poll.

Three-time Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year, Nicole Degenhardt, returns a loaded roster consisting of five All-CACC selections (Alyssa Herrera, Taylor Barraza, Jayda Jones, Adriana Mungo, and Mikayla Gilgert), three NFCA All-Region picks (Herrera, Jones, Mungo), a quintet of D2CCA All-Region honorees (Herrera, Mungo, Gilgert, Barraza, and Jones), and an NFCA First-Team All-American (Herrera).

Herrera, the program's first All-American since Samantha Reilly in 2018,  was also a Schutt Sports / NFCA Division II Player of the Year & Freshman of the Year finalist. The Georgian Court Female Rookie of the Year led the Lions in numerous offensive categories, including: batting average (.450), runs (47), hits (59), doubles (17) and total bases (94).

Having played a vital role in leading GCU to within one win of its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II Softball Championship, the La Palma, Calif. native owned 18 multi-hit contests in 44 overall games, and collected at least one knock in all but eight outings.

Georgian Court topped the conference with 297 runs, 428 hits, 79 doubles, 23 triples, 35 home runs, 122 walks, 78 stolen bases, .a .361 team batting average, .424 on-base percentage, and .555 slugging percentage.

Posting an overall record of 38-6, and a program-best 25-1 regular-season mark vs. conference foes, the reigning CACC champions make their '22 debut on Saturday, Feb. 26 in Winter Haven, Fla. vs. the University of Bridgeport (East Coast Conference) and Fairmont State University (Mountain East Conference).

2022 CACC SOFTBALL PRESEASON COACHES POLL
1. Georgian Court University 147 (8)
T2. Caldwell University 133 (2)
T2. Dominican College 133 (2)
4. Wilmington University 129 (1)
5. Thomas Jefferson University 110
6. Bloomfield College 106
7. Post University 94
8. Felician University 80
9. Nyack College 63
T10. Holy Family University 49
T10. University of the Sciences 49
12. Goldey-Beacom College 42
13. Chestnut Hill College 35

() - First-Place Votes 

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