COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - After winning the regular season and conference tournament last season, the BYU sofball team received the most first-place votes in the annual pre-season coach's poll.For the third straight season, Utah has been selected to win the Mountain West Conference softball title in a vote by the league coaches.
In a close vote, the Utes edged BYU for the top position collecting a total of 21 points (two first-place votes). 2001 Mountain West Conference champion BYU, which tallied three-first place votes, finished second in the ballot with a total of 20 points. San Diego State followed with 18 points to claim the third spot with New Mexico, which received one first-place vote, finishing fourth (17 points). UNLV (nine points) and Colorado State (five points) rounded out the voting as they were picked to finish fifth and sixth, respectively.
Utah, 37-25-1 overall last season, returns nine letterwinners and seven starters to a team that finished second in conference play with an 11-8-1 record. In only its second season of softball, BYU went on to capture the 2001 MWC tournament title over San Diego State and advanced to the NCAA Regionals. The Cougars return 10 letterwinners from the last year's team and will be led by first-team All-American and MWC Freshman of the Year Oli Keohohou, who led the nation in batting average (.458) and slugging percentage (.993) last season.
San Diego State returns 11 letterwinners (six starters) to a team that finished 2001 with its first ever 40-win season and first-ever NCAA Regional berth, finishing one win away from the Women's College World Series. New Mexico finished last season with a 39-24-1 overall record and 10-9-1 conference record, finishing fourth. The Lobos return 10 letterwinners and seven starters for the 2002 season.
UNLV finished last season 26-30 overall (7-13 in MWC play) and returns 11 letterwinners for the 2002 season, while Colorado State (10-37 overall, 7-12 in MWC play) returns six letterwinners from a 2001 squad that finished fifth in the MWC.
Preseason Softball Coaches' Poll
Pl. Team (1st place votes) Points
1. Utah (2) 21
2. BYU (3) 20
3. San Diego State 18
4. New Mexico (1) 17
5. UNLV 9
6. Colorado State 5