Aug. 10, 2009

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - In a vote by the league's coaches, BYU was selected to win the 2009 Mountain West Conference women's soccer title in the preseason poll released today.

The Cougars collected 49 points and seven of eight first-place votes to capture the top spot in the poll. TCU and Utah each collected 39 points to share second place, while the Horned Frogs also earned one first-place vote. San Diego State and UNLV were predicted to finish in fourth and fifth place with 30 and 28 points, respectively. New Mexico was ranked sixth (18 points), while Wyoming (14 points) and Air Force (7 points) rounded out the top eight.

Last season, the Cougars were crowned the MWC regular-season and tournament champions and received the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. BYU finished the 2008 campaign with an 18-5-1 record and made its 11th postseason appearance. The squad returns all-MWC first-team selections Lauren Anderson and Andrea Willis, the MWC Defensive Player of the Year. TCU returns 22 letterwinners and 10 starters, including first-team all-Conference member Jordan Calhoun. Utah also returns a first-team all-Conference selection from last season in Kelly Isleib, along with 14 lettterwinners and nine starters. New Mexico (Alexis Ball), San Diego State (Cat Walker) and UNLV (Ashleigh Shoughro) also welcome back one first-team all-Conference member in 2009.

The 2009 MWC Women's Soccer Championship will take place on the BYU campus, Nov. 4-7.

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