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SEATTLE U TO HOST 2016 WAC TOURNAMENT
Seattle U will host the 2016 WAC Softball Tournament. The five eligible teams will advance to the double-elimination tournament, which will be held at Logan Field May 12-14. This is the second time in the last three years the Redhawks have hosted the event, as they did so in 2014.
NM STATE PICKED TO WIN 2016 WAC TITLE
In a preseason vote of the six WAC softball coaches, who could not vote for their own team, NM State was selected as the preseason favorite to win the title.
The Aggies took the top spot in the preseason poll with 25 points and five first-place votes. Grand Canyon was picked second with 20 points and the other first-place vote, edging out CSU Bakersfield in third place with 18 points. UMKC was fourth with 11 points, followed by Seattle U and Utah Valley with nine and seven points, respectively.
PRESEASON ALL-WAC TEAM
NM State senior utility player Fiana Finau was selected as the Preseason Player of the Year and Missouri-Kansas City's Katie Kelley was selected as the Preseason Pitcher of the Year in a vote of the league's six head coaches, who could not vote for their own players.
NM State placed the most players on the Preseason All-WAC team with six, while Grand Canyon had three.
Joining Finau and Kelley on the Preseason All-WAC Team are Aggies Emma Adams, Karysta Donisthorpe, Brennalyn Nakamura, Haley Nakamura and Rachel Rodriguez; Grand Canyon's Brittany Medina, Taylor Nowlin and Camree Wartman; CSU Bakersfield's Adrianna Cardoza; and Seattle U's Paige Bouska and Isabella Geronimo.
RETURNING ALL-CONFERENCE PLAYERS
Of the 13 first team All-WAC players from last year, five return for the 2016 season, including Missouri-Kansas City's Brooke Parker, NM State's Fiana Finau and Haley Nakamura, Seattle U's Isabella Geronimo and Utah Valley's Brittney Vansway.
Eleven of the second team All-WAC selections return for 2016, including four from Grand Canyon (Bianca Boling, Brittany Medina, Taylor Nowlin and Camree Wartman). Also returning are Julea Cavazos and Alex Simmons of CSU Bakersfield, Utah Valley's Morgan Smith and Jaylen Watson, UMKC's Katie Kelley, NM State's Karysta Donisthorpe and Seattle U's Paige Bouska.