LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The defending Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament champion Grand Valley State softball team is ranked 16th in the 2019 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division II Pre-Season Coaches' Poll.
The Lakers, who finished 44-9 last season, made their eighth straight – and 16th overall – NCAA Tournament appearance at the end of a 2018 campaign that saw them finish 44-9 overall and 24-2 in the league. Head coach Dana Callihan enters 2019 with a 152-57 (.730) record in her five years at the helm of the program and returns 13 letterwinners and eight returners from last year's squad – a group that includes four All-GLIAC honorees, two All-Region performers, and one All-American standout.
Southern Indiana (41-23) was the unanimous No. 1-ranked team with 16 first-place votes.
GVSU opens its season against Lindenwood on Feb. 22 in Rosemont, Ill.
