Tuesday, October 09, 2007

MACON, Ga. – With conference basketball teams set to open practice in the coming days in preparation for the 2007-08 campaign, the Atlantic Sun Conference announced the results of its annual preseason women’s basketball poll Tuesday afternoon. League coaches selected Jacksonville to capture its first conference title; the coaches also selected the Dolphins as tournament champions, while conference media members picked ETSU to sweep both regular season and tournament crowns for the first time in school history. Jacksonville senior forward Ashley Williams was chosen as the league’s preseason Player of the Year.

Jacksonville garnered seven first-place votes and 138 points in the coach’s poll to edge out ETSU, which received four first-place nods and totaled 133 points. Defending conference champion Belmont collected one first-place vote, and tallied 124 points, checking in at third position. Kennesaw State and Gardner-Webb rounded out the top-five, accumulating 96 and 92 points, respectively.

On the media side ETSU received 16 first-place votes for 342 points, topping Jacksonville’s 11 first-place nods and 318 points. 2007 champ Belmont received two first-place votes and 282 points, again sliding into third-place. Kennesaw State and Gardner-Webb also finished off the top-five in the media poll with 218 and 216 points, respectively. Florida Gulf Coast, in its first year of conference membership after moving up from Division II, was slotted sixth, and received one first-place vote.

Williams, a 2006-07 first-team All-Atlantic Sun selection, averaged 17 points and 7.1 rebounds per contest a year ago in helping the Dolphins to a school-record 21-win season. Joining her on the preseason all-conference team was teammate and fellow 06-07 first-team selection Virginia Gregoire. A pair of other 06-07 first-team honorees were also placed on the preseason squad, Campbell senior center Marlena Murphy and ETSU sophomore guard Siarre Evans. Evans’ teammate and 06-07 second-team All-Atlantic Sun choice Michele Devault capped the preseason selections.

The 2007-08 women’s basketball season tips off Friday, November 9 with nine of the A-Sun’s 12 teams in action, including both preseason favorites as Jacksonville hosts Georgia Southern and the Lady Bucs open play in the WNIT at Western Kentucky. Florida Gulf Coast and USC Upstate, the A-Sun’s newest members, will be welcomed to Division I competition by Florida State and Kentucky, respectively.

The Atlantic Sun Conference is a 12-member league committed to Building Winners for Life, with a focus on academic and athletic integrity and a balance between the two for the student-athlete, and maintaining a high level of sportsmanship. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun encompasses six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun consists of some of the most dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Gardner-Webb University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.

Tournament Champion: Jacksonville

Tournament Champion: ETSU

Preseason Player of the Year: Ashley Williams, Forward, Jacksonville