August 7, 2000

FURMAN WOMEN¹S SOCCER RECEIVING VOTES IN INAUGURAL ASW TOP 25

GREENVILLE, SC -- The Furman women's soccer team received votes in the inaugural American Sports Writers' (ASW) preseason top 25 released on Monday.

Furman received eight votes in the poll, which places the Lady Paladins in the nation's top 35. Last Friday, the Lady Paladins were tabbed as the preseason favorites to repeat as Southern Conference champions.

ASW is a collection of professional journalists and writers from across the United States, representing each region and nearly 30 separate publications. It is the most successful attempt at an AP-style poll for NCAA women¹s soccer to date. The panel will distribute weekly rankings each Monday during the regular season.

"Receiving votes in a preseason national poll is a step in the right direction," said head coach Brian Lee, in his seventh season as head coach since starting the program from scratch. "We want to be recognized as one of the top programs in the country and I think we are on our way to achieving that goal. Hopefully we will find ourselves in the Top 25 once the season starts."

Furman returns nine starters and all seven all-conference picks from last year. They also welcome a strong freshman class, headlined by Emily Turgeon and Danielle Petro. Furman¹s freshman class, which features only two players that were signed to national letters-of-intent, was selected as the 41st best class in the nation by Soccer Buzz.

Furman opens the season August 26 against East Tennessee State at Eugene Stone III Soccer Stadium.

ASW 2000 Pre-Season Top 25

1. North Carolina

2. Santa Clara

3. Notre Dame

4. Penn State

5. Nebraska

6. Florida

7. Stanford

8. Clemson

9. Connecticut

10. Hartford

11. Texas A&M

12. Wake Forest

13. UCLA

14. William & Mary

15. Virginia

16. SMU

17. Harvard

18. USC

19. BYU

20. Duke

21t. Kentucky

21t. San Diego

23. Michigan

24. Maryland

25. Boston College

Receiving Votes: Missouri (45), Baylor (33), James Madison (30), Arkansas (19), California (18), Minnesota (15), Dartmouth (9), Furman (8), San Diego State (5), Texas (2), St. Louis (1).