SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – BYU and LMU tied for first as favorites in the 2023 WCC Softball annual preseason coaches poll, as announced on Tuesday by the Conference.
The coaches poll and preseason All-WCC team were selected solely by a vote of the conference's six head coaches. Coaches cannot vote for their own teams and student-athletes.
The Cougars and the Lions each amassed 23 points and they shared the three first-place votes. BYU and LMU tied for first last season, and the Lions earned the automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament after winning the season series over the Cougars. This marks the 10th year in a row that BYU has been named at least one of the Conference's preseason favorites.
San Diego (15 points), Santa Clara (14 points), Saint Mary’s (8 points) and Pacific (7 points) rounded out the preseason poll.
BYU and LMU also split players on the preseason team, earning three each among the position players and one pitcher each. Santa Clara and Pacific each had two position players earn the recognition, while the Broncos collected the third pitcher to each preseason All-WCC honors.
Six members of the preseaon team were also named to the 2022 All-WCC preseason team - Huntyr Ava (BYU), Emma Bickford (Santa Clara), Morgan DeBord (LMU), Martha Epenesa (BYU), Ashley Trierweiler (Santa Clara) and Violet Zavodnik (BYU). It's also the third-straight appearance for Ava and Trierweiler.
LMU's Jenna Perez and Jasmine Sofowora each made the preseaosn team after Perez won 2022 WCC Pitcher of the Year and Sofowora won 2022 WCC Freshman of the Year. In addition, Ava, Epenesa, Marissa Nishihara (Saint Mary's), Sydney Poole (LMU), Trierweiler and Zavodnik also made last season's WCC all-conference first team.
First pitch for the 2023 season is set for Thursday, Feb. 9, with BYU competing in Mexico and LMU at No. 11 Stanford.
2023 WCC PRESEASON COACHES POLL
| School |
Points |
| T-1. BYU (3) |
23 |
| T-1. LMU (3) |
23 |
| 3. San Diego |
15 |
| 4. Santa Clara |
14 |
| 5. Saint Mary’s |
8 |
| 6. Pacific |
7 |
2023 ALL-WCC PRESEASON SOFTBALL TEAM - POSITION PLAYERS
| Name |
Institution |
| Huntyr Ava |
BYU |
| Emma Bickford |
Santa Clara |
| Morgan DeBord |
LMU |
| Rian Dirmeyer |
Pacific |
| Martha Epenesa |
BYU |
| Carly Lucchetti |
Pacific |
| Marissa Nishihara |
Saint Mary's |
| Sydney Poole |
LMU |
| Jasmine Sofowora |
LMU |
| Alexia Torculas |
San Diego |
| Ashley Trierweiler |
Santa Clara |
| Violet Zavodnik |
BYU |
2023 ALL-WCC PRESEASON SOFTBALL TEAM - PITCHERS
| Name |
Institution |
| Hannah Edwards |
Santa Clara |
| Jenna Perez |
LMU |
| Chloe Temples |
BYU |