Feb. 29, 2008

Bay City, Mich. - Grand Valley State University earned four first-place votes and 89 overall points in the GLIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, placing them second. The Lakers trailed only Wayne State, who also finished with four first-place votes. Grand Valley ousted the Warriors in last season's GLIAC semifinals and finished the season with a record of 36-18 overall. They enter the season ranked No. 13 by the National Fastpitch Coaches' Association.

Doug Woods returns for his 18th yaer at the helm of Grand Valley State's program. GVSU closed out the 2007 season with a loss in the Great Lakes Regional Championship game. Lori Andjelich will be a steadying presence on the mound for the Lakers once again this season. Last season, she posted a record of 17-7 and an earned-run average of 1.51 on her way to being named to the All-Great Lakes Region First Team and the All-GLIAC Second Team. She struck out 181 batters in 189.2 innings.

At the plate, GVSU will be led by returning seniors Kristin Moleski and Elizabeth Smith. Moleski was a First Team All-GLIAC selection last season and ranked fourth in the conference with 42 runs batted-in. She led the team with a .383 batting average and banged out nine home runs. Smith was Honorable Mention All-GLIAC with a league-leading 49 RBIs and a batting average of .366. She also finished fourth in the conference with 10 home runs.

Each of the GLIAC's 11 head coaches ranked the teams in the conference, but were not allowed to rank their own team. The first-place team on each ballot received 10 points, while the second-place team received nine points, etc. GLIAC softball teams open the 2008 conference season on Wednesday, March 26.