Big South Announces 2024 Preseason Women's Lacrosse Poll & Honors
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Two-time defending Big South Women’s Lacrosse Champion
Mercer University has been unanimously voted the preseason favorite in the annual preseason poll by the league’s head coaches, it was announced today by the Conference office. The Bears are the preseason favorite for the second time since becoming associate members in 2022. In addition, Mercer attacker
Maddi Koury (Birchrunville, Pa.) is the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, teammate
Kayla Soltys (Gainesville, Va.) is the Preseason Midfielder of the Year, and Furman defender
Katelyn Sousa (New Fairfield, Conn.) is the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year honoree.
Mercer received all nine first-place votes and the maximum 81 points to win the Big South Women’s Lacrosse crown in 2024. The Bears enter the 2024 campaign with eight letterwinners and three starters returning from the 2023 squad that won the regular-season title with a 9-0 Big South record.
High Point finished second in the preseason poll with 71 points, while associate member
Furman was third with 62 points. Associate member
Wofford finished fourth in the voting with 50 points, followed by
Radford in the fifth spot at 35 points.
Presbyterian College landed in sixth-place with 34 points, and
Longwood received 30 points for the seventh spot in the poll.
Winthrop placed eighth with 24 points each, with
Gardner-Webb (ninth, 18 points) rounding out the preseason ranking.
Koury was a Second-Team All-Big South performer in 2023. She started all 20 games, and had the best season of her career with 30 goals and team-high 33 assists for a 63-point season. Her 63 points were second-most on the team, and she ranked third in the Big South in assists (33) and sixth in points (63). Koury also had 30 ground balls, eight caused turnovers and two draw controls last season, with her 30 ground balls third-most on the squad. She tallied a career-high five goals against Manhattan (March 12), had a career-high five assists against American (March 4), and posted at least two points in 17 of 20 games played. Koury had three assists in the season-opening win at Virginia Tech, and recorded three six-point games (American, Manhattan, and Presbyterian).
Koury received four first-place votes and 17 total points in this year’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year voting, ahead of Wofford attacker
Bria Foley (12 points, two first-place votes) and Furman attacker
Anna Roser (11 points, three first-place votes).
Soltys is a two-time Big South All-Conference honoree, including First-Team accolades in 2023. Soltys became Mercer's primary player in the draw control circle midway through last season and finished with the most draw controls in the Big South with 106 and 5.30 per game -- the only Big South player to average at least 5.00. Soltys appeared in all 20 games with four starts in 2023, and had her best season offensively as she scored a career-high 19 goals to go with six assists for 25 points. She put 28 of her 36 shots on goal for a .778 shots on goal percentage, picked up 11 ground balls and caused seven turnovers. Soltys recorded two hat tricks in 2023 (at Longwood, vs. Furman) and scored at least one goal in 12 of the Bears’ final 14 contests.
She collected four first-place votes and 17 total points in this year’s Preseason Midfielder of the Year voting, ahead of Furman’s
Hannah Dintino (14 points, one first-place vote) and High Point’s
Kay Rosselli (13 points, four first-place votes).
Sousa is a two-time All-Big South selection for the Paladins, as well as a two-time team captain. She started in 18 games last season, and led the team with 27 caused turnovers. Sousa corralled 28 ground balls a season ago (fourth-most on the team), and also contributed eight draws and one goal, which came in a 9-8 road win at Old Dominion. She caused three turnovers five different times -- including a season-high four in the Big South Semifinals, and picked up three ground balls on four occasions. Sousa, who won three draws at Mercer, was part of a Furman defense last season that gave up the third-fewest goals among Big South teams.
She collected three first-place votes and 15 total points in this year’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year voting, ahead of Radford defender
Josie Helpard (12 points, three first-place votes), and Mercer goalkeeper
Kate Vanderlinde (two first-place votes) and High Point defender
Caitlyn Baehr (one first-place vote), who tied with 10 points each.
Koury, Soltys and Sousa also earned spots on the preseason All-Conference team, which is listed below. The team is comprised of three attackers, three midfielders, three defenders, one goalkeeper and three at-large selections, as well as any ties.
The first Big South conference match is scheduled for Wednesday, March 27, and the 2024 Big South Women’s Lacrosse Championship tournament is slated for May 3-5 at the No. 1 seed. The top four teams in the final Big South standings will qualify for the conference tournament, and the champion receives the Big South’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
2024 WOMEN’S LACROSSE PRESEASON POLL
| Rk - School (first-place votes) |
Points |
| 1 - Mercer (9) |
81 |
| 2 - High Point |
71 |
| 3 - Furman |
62 |
| 4 - Wofford |
50 |
| 5 - Radford |
35 |
| 6 - Presbyterian College |
34 |
| 7 - Longwood |
30 |
| 8 - Winthrop |
24 |
| 9 - Gardner-Webb |
18 |
Note: points are based on a weighted system, with first-place votes receiving 9 points, followed by 8 points for second-place, and so on.
PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
ATT - Maddi Koury, Sr., Mercer
ATT - Bria Foley, Jr., Wofford
ATT - Anna Roser, Jr., Furman
MF - Kayla Soltys, Gr., Mercer
MF - Hannah Dintino, 5th Yr., Furman
MF - Kay Rosselli, Sr., High Point
D - Katelyn Sousa, Sr., Furman
D - Josie Helpard, Sr., Radford
D - Caitlyn Baehr, Jr., High Point
GK - Kate Vanderlinde, Gr., Mercer
AL - Julia Koenig, D, Sr., Longwood
AL - Willow Hammond, MF, Jr., Presbyterian
AL - Lily Barger, D, Soph., Wofford
PRESEASON OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Maddi Koury, ATT, Sr., Mercer
PRESEASON MIDFIELDER OF THE YEAR
Kayla Soltys, Gr., Mercer
PRESEASON DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Katelyn Sousa, Sr., Furman