VIDEO: Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Interview
The Eagles are in the middle of a cluster of five teams separated by 12 points for the top spot in the conference.
"This is reflective how difficult it is to poll that at this time," head coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "We were picked preseason number four last year and made a run for the regular season title. It'll be a challenge this year because you have six or seven teams who legitimately could vie for first place."
Catawba, the defending SAC tournament champion, was picked to win the league with 118 points and five first place votes.
Lenoir-Rhyne follows in second with 116 points and a pair of first place votes. The Eagles were three points behind the Bears but C-N has a trio of first place votes.
Anderson and Wingate occupy the fourth and fifth spots with 108 and 106 points respectively.
Newberry, Lincoln Memorial, Coker, Tusculum, Mars Hill, Queens and Brevard round out the poll in that order.
The Eagles have been picked fourth in the last two preseason polls.
"We've scheduled highly competitively," Kazee-Hollifield said. "There's not a lot of breathing room otherwise you'll be left behind."
C-N returns All-American utility player Elayna Siebert (Knoxville, Tenn.) as well as every infielder with the exception of third. The outfield will be brand new with the exception of Talisa Fiame (Pacifica, Calif.) in right. C-N must find a way to replace All-American Bre Lockett and her 14 home runs.
C-N opens up the season Feb 4 with a home doubleheader against Lees-McRae at 1:30 p.m. Coverage of that contest will be available on the Eagle Sports Network with a free high definition stream at cneagles.com/live.
2016 Softball Preseason Poll (Coaches don't vote for own team)
Rank (First-Place Votes) Points
1. Catawba (5) 118
2. Lenoir-Rhyne (2) 116
3. Carson-Newman (3) 113
4. Anderson 108
5. Wingate (2) 106
6. Newberry 84
7. Lincoln Memorial 70
8. Coker 61
9. Tusculum 52
10. Mars Hill 44
11. Queens 29
12. Brevard 26
