CSU selected third in preseason poll

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Charleston Southern women’s tennis team was voted third in the Big South Conference’s preseason poll a year after the team went all the way to the championship match in the postseason conference tournament. CSU earned 45 points in the poll, narrowly edging Liberty University (44). The voting is conducted by the league’s head women’s tennis coaches.

The championship appearance was the first for CSU since 2001. The Buccaneers also took third in the conference during the regular season.

Winthrop University, the defending champions, earned the top spot with six first-place votes and 62 points from the panel. Coastal Carolina University garnered the second spot, claiming the remaining two top votes and finishing with 52 points.

Liberty claimed the fourth position with 44 points and Radford University collected 31 points to round out the top five. University of North Carolina Asheville finished sixth with 25 points, while Gardner-Webb University’s 18 points and Presbyterian College’s 11 points closed out the voting.

Charleston Southern’s season begins on the road Feb. 12, when the Bucs travel to Buies Creek, N.C. for a 2 p.m. meeting with Campbell University. The Big South Women’s Tennis Conference Championship is slated for Thursday-Saturday, April 22-24 on the campus of Radford University.

1. Winthrop (62 points, 6 first-place votes)
2. Coastal Carolina (52, two first-place votes)
3. Charleston Southern (45)
4. Liberty (44)
5. Radford (31)
6. UNC Asheville (25)
7. Gardner-Webb (18)
8. Presbyterian College (11)