March 2, 2000

GREYHOUNDS RANKED 3rd IN PRESEASON NCAA SOFTBALL POLL

INDIANAPOLIS, IN --- The Moravian College softball team, which returns 12 letterwinners from last season’s 26-18 team, has been ranked third in the 2000 NCAA Division III East Region Preseason Poll released Thursday by the NCAA.

The Greyhounds, under the direction of head coach John Byrne (7th season, 168-69), have made the NCAA Division III Tournament the last two seasons as an at-large team. This season under the new automatic bid system the NCAA is using on the Division III level, Moravian must win the MAC Commonwealth Conference’s automatic bid since there are only four at-large bids nationwide.

Moravian trails Rowan University and The College of New Jersey in the regional poll. The Greyhounds will play a doubleheader at Rowan on April 8th and host The College of New Jersey for a single game on April 21st. Rounding out the top five in the region were Ursinus College and William Paterson College of New Jersey. Moravian will also play both of those schools, travelling to Ursinus on March 30th and William Paterson on April 13th. Three other teams were mentioned in the region and the Greyhounds will play doubleheaders against two of those schools, Messiah College and Susquehanna University. The other school mentioned is Montclair State University (NJ).

The NCAA Division III East Region is made up of 72 teams including schools from the following Conference: Middle Atlantic Conference, New Jersey Athletic Conference, Centennial Conference, Pennsylvania Athletic Conference and the City University of New York Athletic Conference. The region also includes 13 schools that will compete as independents.

Moravian opens its 2000 season at the Virginia Wesleyan College Lady Marlin Tournament on Friday, March 10th with games against Chowan College (NC), Mary Washington College (VA) and North Carolina Wesleyan College in Virginia Beach, Virginia. North Carolina Wesleyan, which used to be in the East Region, is ranked second in the Atlantic Region. Moravian will also play Methodist College (NC), the fourth ranked team in the Atlantic Region and Bridgewater College (VA), the fifth ranked team in the region this season.

2000 NCAA Division III East Region Preseason Poll –
Released March 2, 2000

1. Rowan University (NJ)
2. The College of New Jersey
3. Moravian College
4. Ursinus College
5. William Paterson University (NJ)

Also mentioned: Messiah College, Montclair State University (NJ), Susquehanna University