ATLANTA - Piedmont University has been picked by the Collegiate Conference of the South's (CCS) women's tennis head coaches to claim the 2023 Championship this spring as the preseason coaches' poll was released by the league office today. The Lady Lions received five of the eight first-place votes to narrowly edge out second-place Covenant, which received the other three first place selections.  

Piedmont received 47 total points in the voting, including the five first-place selections. Covenant was just behind the Lady Lions in second place, having earned 45 points overall. 

Under the direction of Trey Martin, the Lady Lions are coming off a truly historic season for the program as they finished with a 25-5 overall record and a perfect 7-0 mark in the USA South play. They captured their first ever USA South Tournament Championship, defeating Averett in the championship to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. At the NCAA Emory Regional, Piedmont defeated Transylvania to win the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament match.

Huntingdon and Maryville finished tied for third in the voting, each receiving 30 points in the coaches' poll. Rounding out the top five was Agnes Scott, which earned 29 points in the voting. The rest of the conference's preseason rankings included: Belhaven (20 points), LaGrange (12) and Berea (11). 

ABOUT THE COLLEGIATE CONFERENCE OF THE SOUTH
The CCS is an NCAA Division III athletic conference that began play during the 2022-23 academic year. The conference features nine members and sponsors championships across 14 sports. In addition to sharing the member institutions' geographic identity, the name 'Collegiate Conference of the South' is indicative of a shared commitment to academic excellence, which is commensurate with the NCAA Division III philosophy.

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