Softball Weekly Release

Utah's Staci Hemingway
Softball Home HEADLINES New Mexico's Gayle Tripp, UNLV's Brittany Meade Nominees for 2009 NCAA Woman of the Year Award New Mexico's Gayle Tripp, UNLV's Brittany Meade Nominees for 2009 NCAA Woman of the Year Award Mountain West Conference Softball Press Release - 2009 Wrap-Up RELATED LINKS • Follow all of the college softball action at CollegeSports.com • Email this to a friend

Feb. 7, 2008

MWC Softball Weekly Release

MWC NOTES

Let the Games Begin
The 2008 Mountain West Conference softball season opens Thursday, Feb. 7, with BYU taking on Southern Utah in the UVS/BYU Red Desert Classic in St. George, Utah. On Friday, Feb. 8, the five other MWC schools will be in action with Utah also competing in St. George. Colorado State and San Diego State begin their season at the Cathedral City Kickoff in Palm Springs, Calif., while UNLV will host the Alexis Resort Kick-Off Classic in Las Vegas, Nev. New Mexico will host Evansville in a three-game series, beginning on Saturday, Feb. 9.

BYU Favored to Win 2008 Regular-Season Title
After winning the 2007 regular-season championship, the BYU Cougars have been selected to win the Mountain West Conference softball regular season title in a vote by the league coaches. San Diego State also received a first-place vote.

BYU also won the softball regular-season titles in 2001 and 2005. The Cougars collected 25 points to capture the top spot in the poll. San Diego State tallied 19 points to place second in the poll, followed by last year's runner-up UNLV (15 points), Colorado State (13 points) and New Mexico (13 points), and Utah (five points).

2008 Preseason Softball Coaches' Poll
Pl.	Team (1st place votes)	Points
1.	BYU (5)	                    25
2.	San Diego State (1)	  19
3.	UNLV	                    15
T4.	Colorado State	           13
T4. 	New Mexico	           13
6.	Utah	                     5

Welcome Back
The Mountain West Conference returns a total of 12 all-conference players from the 2007 season. San Diego State heads the list with four returning all-MWC performers apiece, followed by BYU and Colorado State with two. The Cougars return Christie Zinanti (So., P), Angeline Quiocho (Fr., 3B) and Emi Snow (Sr., OF, Second-Team NFCA All-West Region). San Diego State is led by Christina Ross (Sr., P), Lindsey Marquez (So., 2B) and Brittany Knudsen (So., OF, Second-Team NFCA All-West Region). Colorado State returns MWC Freshman of the Year Ashley Munoz (So., OF), Lauren Cusick (Sr., OF) and Allison Majam (So., OF, Second-Team NFCA All-West Region), while Utah returns two all-MWC picks, including Meghan Crouse (Sr., OF) and Diana Phillips (Sr., OF, Second-Team NFCA All-West Region). The Rebels also welcome back two all-conference performers, Jaci Hull (RS-So., SS) and Kendall Fearn (Jr., 1B).

In The Rankings
BYU and UNLV are both receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA preseason poll, while the Cougars are also receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Collegiate Softball Preseason poll. After winning the 2007 Women's College World Series, Arizona tops both polls.

MWC Experience
The league is fairly balanced between lower and upper classmen this season. UNLV and Utah return the most experience with five seniors a piece, whiel New Mexico and San Diego State welcome seven freshmen to this year's roster. The list below shows the class breakdown for each team this year.

Class Breakdown
Team	Fr.    	So.   	Jr.   	Sr.
BYU	6	4	3	3
CSU	5	5	3	3
UNM	7	5	4	3
SDSU	7	6	5	4
UNLV	3	7	5	5
Utah	2	4	6	5
Totals	30	31	26	23