Sports News: Spring 2006
Thursday, May 11, 2006

MORAVIAN SOFTBALL SQUAD RANKED 24TH IN LATEST NFCA DIVISION III TOP 25 POLL OF THE 2006 SEASON

STARKVILLE, MS --- The Moravian College softball team, which has earned its ninth straight trip to the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament, is ranked 24th in the fourth regular season National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III Top 25 Poll of the year released Wednesday.

Eight NCAA Division III head coaches representing the eight NCAA regions vote on the NFCA Division III Top 25 poll.

The Greyhounds received a total of 29 points. The University of St. Thomas (MN), the two-time defending NCAA Division III National Champions, holds down the top spot with 200 points and all eight first-place votes. To view the complete Top 25 Poll, go to http://nfca.org/top25/index.php?cat_id=3&poll_id=124.

Moravian has played three nationally ranked teams this season, falling to third-ranked Rutgers University-Camden, 1-0 in eight innings, and losing to 11th-ranked Salisbury (MD) University, 2-0. Moravian defeated ninth-ranked SUNY Plattsburgh, 5-0.
Moravian, under the direction of head coach John Byrne, is 33-7 overall and won its sixth straight Commonwealth Conference Tournament Championship. Coach Byrne has a career record of 405-133 in his 13th season at Moravian.

The highest the Greyhound have ever been ranked in the poll was in 2004 when Moravian held the top spot in the country for four weeks before finishing the season as the NCAA Division III National Runner-Up. Moravian was ranked 17th in this year’s NFCA Preseason Poll but was not ranked in the first regular season poll. The Greyhounds were back in the second poll in a tie for 21st before falling out of the last poll.

Moravian is slated to return to action on Thursday, May 11th at the NCAA Division III Regional Tournament hosted by Salisbury University. The fourth seeded Greyhounds will play fifth seeded King’s College at 10:00 a.m. to open the tournament.