Jan. 25, 2012
ST. LOUIS -
For the second-straight year, the Illinois State softball team was picked as the top team in the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, as voted on by the league's coaches. The Redbirds received seven first-place votes and tallied 96 total points. ISU claimed its first MVC regular-season title since 2006 by going 21-5 in league play last season.
Northern Iowa followed Illinois State in the preseason poll, collecting a pair of first-place votes and 87 total points. Southern Illinois (81) received the remaining first-place vote and was slotted third followed by 2011 State Farm MVC Tournament champion Missouri State (66), Creighton (64), Drake (54), Bradley (31), Wichita State (30), Evansville (21) and Indiana State (20).
The Redbirds placed three players on the 2012 MVC Preseason All-Conference team, including 2011 NFCA All-Mideast Region First Team selection Elizabeth Kay and 2011 All-MVC First-Team honorees Lizzie Andrews and Jhavon Hamilton.
In addition to her all-region first-team selection, Kay earned 2011 All-MVC First-Team plaudits after hitting .261 with 14 home runs and a team-high 43 RBI. The senior catcher posted a .559 slugging percentage, a .993 fielding percentage and threw out five opposing base runners from her position behind home plate.
Andrews, a transfer from Heartland Community College, ranked third on the team with a .333 batting average, hit eight homers and legged out four triples in her first season as a Redbird. The senior outfielder led ISU with seven outfield assists and ranked second on the team with 51 hits on her way to earning all-region second-team accolades.
Hamilton led the MVC with a .462 average and a .800 slugging percentage in league play. The junior outfielder hit seven of her eight homers in Valley games and ranked third on the team with 31 RBI. Hamilton earned all-region second-team honors and All-MVC First Team accolades for the first time in her career last season.
Illinois State, Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois each had three players named to the 12-player preseason all-conference squad, while Bradley had two representatives and Missouri State had one selection.
The Redbirds open the 2012 season Feb. 10 at the USF Tournament in Tampa, Fla. ISU is slated to open the tournament at 8:15 a.m. against Maine and will take on 2011 Women's College World Series runner-up Florida Saturday, Feb. 11, to highlight the five-game, three-day event.
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