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Jan. 29, 2004
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The University of Virginia softball team has been picked in a three-way tie with Georgia Tech and North Carolina for second place in the 2004 Atlantic Coast Conference Preseason Softball Coaches Poll as voted by the league’s six head coaches. The Cavaliers totaled 23 points in the poll.
Florida State has been tabbed as the ACC’s top team in 2004. The Seminoles, who were 46-11 overall and 8-0 in the ACC a year ago, received all six first-place votes in the ACC Preseason Coaches Poll for a total of 36 points. Virginia, Georgia Tech and North Carolina each received 23 points in the poll and are tied for second. UVa advanced to the championship game of the 2003 ACC Tournament after finishing fourth in the regular season standings. Georgia Tech posted a 38-25 mark last season, while North Carolina was 40-22-1. Maryland was picked to finish fifth with 15 points, while N.C. State, which is beginning its first season of softball, was sixth in the poll with six points.
Virginia finished the 2003 season with a 37-26 overall record and a 3-5 mark in the ACC. UVa fell to Florida State in the ACC Tournament Championship Game. It marked the Cavaliers’ fourth appearance in the title game in six years.
Seventh-year head coach Cheryl Sprangel’s Cavaliers open the 2004 season February 13-15 at the UNC Triangle Classic in Raleigh, N.C. Virginia’s first game of the tournament is against Campbell on February 13 at 11:00 a.m. The Cavaliers also play East Carolina at 1:00 p.m. the same day.
The entire ACC Preseason Softball Coaches Poll follows.
2004 ACC Preseason Softball Coaches Poll
1. Florida State 362. Virginia 23 Georgia Tech 23 North Carolina 235. Maryland 156. N.C. State 6