NAPERVILLE, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan was picked to defend its College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) softball title in 2015 according to a preseason coaches’ poll conducted Wednesday.
The Titans (41-7, 12-2), coming off both CCIW regular season and tournament titles, won the poll with 46 points and four first place votes after they advanced to the 2014 Super Regional in the first year of the NCAA Division III Softball Championship's new format.
North Central (33-13, 9-5) was second with 42 points and three first place votes. The Cardinals made their second-straight trip to the CCIW Tournament and their fourth NCAA postseason appearance in the last five years in 2014. Like Illinois Wesleyan, North Central also advanced to the 2014 Super Regional last season.
Augustana (35-13, 10-4) finished third with 37 points and one first place vote. The Vikings earned an NCAA postseason berth in 2014 and fell one victory short of a regional title. It was their third NCAA appearance in the last five years.
Carthage (23-14, 8-6) was fourth with 35 points, followed by Wheaton (20-18, 5-9) in fifth with 23 points, Elmhurst (15-15, 5-9) in sixth with 15 points, Millikin (17-20, 1-11) in seventh with 14 points and North Park (18-18, 4-8) in eighth with 12 points.
Voting for the preseason poll is conducted by the CCIW's head softball coaches. Each coach votes for the seven other schools in the conference in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (seven points for first, six for second, etc.). Coaches do not vote for their own teams.
Twitter: @CCIW_Athletics
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services eight member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). During the 2013-14 academic year, the CCIW honored over 1,400 academic all-conference recipients, 14 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 33 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients and 87 all-Americans.