Aug. 19, 2008

Bay City, Mich. - The head women's soccer coaches of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference chose Grand Valley State University to win the league's championship in the preseason poll. GVSU earned the maximum of 49 points and all seven first-place votes it was eligible for. The No. 3 Lakers open the season on Aug. 29 against No. 1 Tampa.

GVSU is the three-time defending league champion and won the inaugural GLIAC women's soccer tournament last season. The Lakers also went undefeated (8-0-0) in conference play last season, the first time since 2004 that a GLIAC team has gone undefeated in league play. They outdistanced second-place Saginaw Valley State by eight points. Northern Michigan earned 30 points, tied for third with GLIAC newcomer Tiffin, and also picked up the remaining first place nod.

Findlay was one point behind NMU and Tiffin, placing fifth, while Ashland, Ferris State and Northwood came in sixth, seventh and eighth respectively. GLIAC women's soccer teams open play on Friday, Aug. 29, with conference play beginning on Sunday, Sept. 14. The 2008 GLIAC Women's Soccer Championship will start on Nov. 4, with the finals on Nov. 9 on the campus on the No. 1 seed.

The league's eight head coaches participated in the balloting, but were not allowed to vote for their team. The first-place team on each ballot received seven points, while the second-place team received six points, and so on.