BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team was picked to finish second in the SEC Western Division in the coaches preseason poll, the league office announced Wednesday.
Arkansas was selected by the coaches to win the SEC West. Auburn was picked third after LSU, and Ole Miss was fourth, followed by Alabama and Mississippi State.
Florida was chosen to win the overall conference title as well as the SEC East. Georgia was selected second in the East, followed by Vanderbilt and South Carolina at third and fourth, respectively. Tennessee was selected fifth, and Kentucky was chosen sixth.
The Lady Tigers, led by All-American Megan Falcon, shared the Western Division crown last season with Auburn. This season Falcon enters the spring ranked No. 8 in the nation, while juniors Staten Spencer and Mykala Hedberg are the 30th-ranked doubles team.
LSU will open the spring season this weekend, Jan. 18-20, at the Virginia Classic.
The preseason poll is voted on by the SEC Women’s Tennis Coaches and is based on a 6-5-4-3-2-1 count. The complete tally for the poll is below.
2008 Women’s Tennis Coaches Preseason Poll
Eastern Division
1. Florida 67
2. Georgia 59
3. Vanderbilt 46
4. South Carolina 36
5. Tennessee 29
6. Kentucky 15
Western Division
1. Arkansas 65
2. LSU 58
3. Auburn 56
4. Ole Miss 29
5. Alabama 25
6. Mississippi State 19
Overall Regular Season Champion: Florida (8 votes); Georgia (2); Vanderbilt (2)