BATON ROUGE — The No. 29 LSU women’s tennis team was voted to finish fifth in the SEC Western Division announced by the league Friday.
“Obviously we would like to be picked higher, but that’s what we are,” said head coach Tony Minnis. “Hopefully we will be able to prove some people wrong.”
Ole Miss was selected to win the SEC West. Alabama finished second, followed by Arkansas at third, Auburn fourth and Mississippi St. behind LSU at No. 6.
Florida was chosen to win the overall conference title as well as the SEC East. Georgia was picked to finish second, followed by Tennessee and Vanderbilt at third and fourth. South Carolina was voted fifth and Kentucky sixth, respectively.
The Lady Tigers finished last season No. 24 in the national rankings with a 14-11 record and tied for fourth with Auburn in the SEC West.
LSU will begin SEC play against South Carolina in Columbia, S.C., on March 5.
The preseason poll is voted on by each respective coaching group and is based on a 6-5-4-3-2-1 count. The complete tally for the polls is below.
2010 Women’s Tennis Coaches Preseason Poll
Eastern Division
1. Florida 71
2. Georgia 57
3. Tennessee 31
4. Vanderbilt 31
5. South Carolina 29
6. Kentucky 12
Western Division
1. Ole Miss 66
2. Alabama 62
3. Arkansas 50
4. Auburn 32
5. LSU 29
6. Mississippi State 12
Overall Regular Season Champion: Florida (11 votes); Tennessee (1)