JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — Duplicating last season’s success will not be an easy task for the Carson-Newman softball team.

The Lady Eagles went 32-17 in 2009 and won their ninth Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament title on their way to the program’s first-ever trip to the NCAA Division II Southeast Super Regional championship.

But with seven starters returning from a year ago, the 24th-ranked Lady Eagles have plenty of pieces in place to have another successful campaign in 2010.

“When you have seven returning players, we think that will help us in the long run,” said C-N head coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield, who enters her 25th season at Mossy Creek. “We’ve got good chemistry and a lot of kids that got a lot of playing time last year, so we think that will work in our favor.”

“Naturally (getting back to the Super Regionals) is something that we strive to get back to. Once you reach something like that, anything less you feel a little iffy about. We know that we have to come back and work extremely hard, even within our conference, to get back to what we accomplished there.”

C-N will begin its quest for a sixth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance when it opens the season on Saturday in a doubleheader against Queens. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. at the Lady Eagle Softball Complex.

The Lady Eagles, who are the preseason favorite to repeat as SAC champions, return five preseason All-SAC selections.

Leading the way are senior first baseman Sarah Little (Calhoun, Ga.) and senior shortstop Jessie Howard (Knoxville, Tenn.), who are both preseason second team All-SAC honorees.

“We have two returners in (Little and Howard) that have started since their freshman year,” Hollifield said. “They provide great leadership on and off the field. They will both be asked to really help us out offensively. They are just complete ball players. We would like for them to go out in style.”

Little, who was a first team Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-Southeast Region and second team Daktronics All-Southeast Region performer in 2009, batted .346 for the Lady Eagles last season and led the conference in both home runs (12) and RBIs (53).

Howard garnered first team Daktronics All-Southeast Region honors a year ago after leading the team with a .378 batting average and ranking first in the SAC in triples (six) and runs scored (49). She was also second in the conference in steals with 24 in 26 attempts and third in hits with 62.

Preseason first team All-SAC selections Leah Price (Spring City, Tenn.) and Whitney Kee (Knoxville, Tenn.), who are both juniors, will hold down the starting jobs in left field and at third base, respectively.

Kee ranked among the conference leaders in runs scored (33), walks (23) and on-base percentage (.458) last season, while Price hit .349 and was among the SAC leaders with 16 stolen bases.

Junior outfielder Whitney Durham (Rossville, Ga.), a preseason second team All-SAC selection, hit .336 with 38 RBIs a year ago.

The Lady Eagles will have several new faces in their pitching rotation this season, but sophomore Mary Shealy (Clinton, S.C.) returns to lead the staff. Shealy compiled a 15-10 record with a 2.04 ERA in 2009. She led the league in shutouts (eight) and ranked fourth in complete games (19), sixth in opponent batting average (.240) and seventh in strikeouts (93). Shealy, who will also see time at first base, ranked third in the SAC in doubles (14) and fourth in RBIs (44).

“Mary came in and gave everything she had last year,” Hollifield said. “She really has worked hard over the summer. To me she looks totally different. With her game experience, I think it’s going to make her a lot stronger. She is really pitching pretty well right now.”

East Tennessee State transfer Ashley Boyd (Chattanooga, Tenn.), a junior right-hander, and freshman Jennifer Long (Chattanooga, Tenn.) will also figure into C-N’s pitching rotation this season.

Junior Amber Hewitt (Ringgold, Ga.) returns at second base for the Lady Eagles. Hewitt started all 49 games for C-N a year ago and produced three doubles, 18 RBIs and 22 runs scored. Freshman Sarah Humphries (Fayetteville, Tenn.) will also see time at second.

The Lady Eagles will be very inexperienced at catcher this season with freshman Bri Shoemake (Ooltewah, Tenn.) and sophomore Ashlee Dillard (Roanoke, Va.) expected to handle the duties behind the plate.

Sophomore Amy Lawrence (Knoxville, Tenn.) and freshman Ashley Tharp (Morristown, Tenn.) will be expected to provide backup at first and third base, respectively.

Joining Durham and Price in the outfield will be sophomores Cassidy Skeen (Powell, Tenn.), a Tennessee Tech transfer, and Kim Whaley (Maryville, Tenn.), who batted .261 with three doubles and six RBIs for C-N last season.

The Lady Eagles will open SAC play on March 20 at Catawba and will close out the regular season on April 17 at Wingate. The 2010 Food Lion SAC Tournament will begin on April 27.

Hollifield said her team better be prepared for a tough conference slate.

“If you don’t lace them up tight and be ready to play, then you can get beat on any given day,” she said. “I think we always have a target on our back. People love to beat Carson-Newman. We better show up and be ready to play.”