Big South Announces 2021 Women's Lacrosse Preseason Poll and Honors
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – High Point University has unanimously been voted the preseason favorite in the annual Big South Conference Women’s Lacrosse preseason poll by the league’s head coaches, it was announced today by the Conference office. The Panthers are the preseason favorite for the eighth time in the nine years the league has sponsored women’s lacrosse. In addition, HPU senior attacker Abby Hormes (Fallston, Md.) is the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, with teammate and graduate midfielder Ashley Britton (Annandale, Va.) the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year honoree.
High Point received all seven first-place votes and the maximum 49 points to win the Big South Women’s Lacrosse crown in 2021. In the abbreviated 2020 season that was canceled March 18 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Panthers played just five non-conference games before competition was suspended on March 12. High Point enters the 2021 campaign as a three-time defending Big South champion with 27 letterwinners and 10 starters returning from 2020.
Campbell finished second in the preseason poll with 39 points -- the second time in three seasons the Camels have been projected second, while Winthrop was third with 32 points. Radford finished fourth in the voting with 25 points, followed by Longwood in the fifth spot at 23 points. Gardner-Webb landed in sixth-place with 21 points, and Presbyterian College received seven points for the seventh and final spot in the poll.
Hormes was the 2020 Big South Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, and finished the abbreviated seson with eight goals, six assists and 14 points in her five appearances. She also recorded 22 draw controls, 10 caused turnovers and seven ground balls in 2020, and was 12th in the country with 2.0 caused turnovers per match. Hormes had three multi-point games last year -- including four goals and two helpers for six points against Florida. The 2019 Big South Offensive Player of the Year and First-Team All-Conference selection led the conference that year with 103 points, 5.15 points per match, 66 goals scored, 37 assists and 1.85 assists per match. In Big South matches in 2019, Hormes paced the conference with 27 goals, 4.50 goals per contest and 19 assists, and was the only player to average more than three assists per Big South game at 3.17. She posted 16 multi-goal games, including at least five goals in a game four times, tallied multi-goal efforts in all six league contests, and set records of six goals and 10 points in the Big South Final en route to Tournament MVP honors. Hormes received six first-place votes and 18 total points in this year’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year voting, ahead of Campbell attacker Julianna Sanchez (nine points) and Winthrop attacker Lauren Morris (six points).
Britton is a three-time All-Big South First-Team selection. She started all five games last season, and finished with 14 draw controls, four caused turnovers and seven ground balls. The Big South Player of the Week on Feb. 11, Britton recorded 24 ground balls, 10 caused turnovers and 28 draw controls in 2019, and posted 49 draw controls as a sophomore in 2018. As a freshman in 2017, Britton set the High Point single-season record for draw controls with 62. She collected six first-place votes and 18 total points in this year’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year voting, ahead of Radford defender Katie Bendrick (11 points) and Campbell goalkeeper Alex Salim (10 points, remaining first-place vote).
Both Hormes and Britton earned a spot 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 weekend is set for Saturday, April 3, and the 2021 Big South Women’s Lacrosse Championship tournament is slated for April 30 & May 2 at the No. 1 seed. The top four teams qualify for the postseason event and the champion receives the Big South’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
2021 Big South Conference Preseason Women’s Lacrosse Poll
| Rk - School (first-place votes) |
Points |
| 1 - High Point (7) |
49 |
| 2 - Campbell |
39 |
| 3 - Winthrop |
32 |
| 4 - Radford |
25 |
| 5 - Longwood |
23 |
| 6 - Gardner-Webb |
21 |
| 7 - Presbyterian College |
7 |
Note: points are based on a weighted system, with first-place votes receiving 7 points, followed by 6 points for second-place, and so on.
PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
ATT - Abby Hormes, Sr., High Point
ATT - Julianna Sanchez, R-Fr., Campbell
ATT - Lauren Morris, Sr., Winthrop
MF - Ashley Britton, Gr., High Point
MF - Lauren Asher, Jr., Winthrop
MF - Dana Joss, Gr., Longwood
D - Katie Bendrick, Jr., Radford
D - Janice Donaldson, Gr., Gardner-Webb
D - Claire Libby, Soph., Longwood
D - Annie Ryan, R-Soph., Campbell
GK - Sarah Zeto, Sr., High Point
AL - Grace Gleason, Jr., Radford
AL - Talen Francis, Sr., Gardner-Webb
AL - Alex Salim, R-Jr., Campbell
PRESEASON OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Abby Hormes, ATT, Sr., High Point
PRESEASON DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Ashley Britton, MF, Gr., High Point