DAVIDSON, N.C. – In their first year of the newly formed women's lacrosse Big South Conference, the Davidson Wildcats were picked to finish second as announced by the league office this afternoon.
The Wildcats, who received 55 points in the coaches poll and earned one first-place vote, will join the Big South after a three-year stint in the National Lacrosse Conference. They finished with a 13-7 combined record in the NLC and were runner-up their inaugural year.
Davidson, which went 8-10 a year ago, returns 18 of its 22 letterwinners and have eight starters back. The program is entering its fifth year under the guidance of head coach
Kim Wayne.
Leading the way this year will be the tri-captians
Jessica Melby,
Abigail Doelger and
Paige Logan. The senior duo of Melby and Doelger return after career years last season. An NLC All-Second Team pick this past season, Melby stopped a career-high 153 shots and sported a 12.39 goals against average. Doelger, who was a two-time NLC All-Academic Team member, had a breakout junior season. She tallied career bests in groundballs (32- second on team) and caused turnovers (20- tops on team), while matching her career-high in draw controls with eight.
Logan was also an NLC All-Academic Team member in 2012 and registered 22 groundballs, 16 draw controls and forced eight turnovers as a sophomore last year.
Offensively, Davidson returns one of the top players in the NLC in
Ann Fucigna, who had record-setting seasons in 2011-12. She set the single-season record for goals (51) and points (74) a year ago. The attacker also added 23 assists, setting a personal-best and tying for third-most in a Wildcat single-season. Fucigna is currently sixth all-time with 100 career goals and has picked up 134 points, which is just outside the top-five all-time.
High Point, the reigning NLC Champion, was picked first with 63 points on seven first-place votes, while Longwood was third behind Davidson. Besides High Point and Davidson, Longwood, Liberty and Presbyterian College are also making the move to the Big South from the NLC. Winthrop, Coastal Carolina and Campbell are in their first year of women's lacrosse.
Davidson opens the 2013 campaign with a 6 p.m. contest against Virginia Tech at home, Feb. 20.
2013 Big South Conference Preseason Women's Lacrosse Poll
Rk Team (first-place votes) -- Points
1. High Point (7) -- 63
2. Davidson (1) -- 55
3. Longwood -- 40
4. Winthrop -- 36
5. Liberty -- 31
6. Coastal Carolina -- 28
7. Presbyterian College -- 23
8. Campbell – 12