See the Full List of Award Winners
 
MACON, Ga. (1/9/2013) -- The results are in for the Atlantic Sun women's lacrosse preseason awards and the University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team placed five players on the All-Conference preseason team and two more on the Newcomer Watch List.
 
Coaches were allowed to vote for their own team in the team poll but could not vote for their individual players on the individual awards.
 
Five Titans were selected to All-Conference preseason team as senior Britany Busch, sophomore goalkeeper Lexie McCormick, senior Lindsey Saunders, sophomore Tessa Keuler, and senior Zaynib Hamze were all unanimous choices for the All-Conference squad.
 
The Titans also had a pair of freshmen named to the Newcomer Watch List as Kylie Birney and Morgan Miller both received the nod.
 
In the team poll, as voted on by the coaches, Detroit was picked to finish second in the five-team league. Jacksonville, who ousted UDM in the National Lacrosse Conference (NLC) Semifinals a year ago, took in all five first place votes with Detroit and Stetson tying for second.
 
Rachel Hannon from Jacksonville was selected as both the Preseason Player of the Year and the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year based on the coaches voting.
 
The fan voting, as conducted on the Atlantic Sun Facebook page, saw Howard tip the scales in each category. Jaymie Cox was voted in as the Preseason Player of the Year, Sydney Satchell was voted in as the Defensive Player of the Year and Howard captured 87 votes in the team category, nine ahead of the Titans in second place.

The Atlantic Sun will feature five teams in the 2013 season from Jacksonville, Stetson, Howard, and Kennesaw State along with Detroit. The winner of the new women's lacrosse conference tournament will also receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Titans will begin their first year in the Atlantic Sun in 2013 after being part of the NLC each of the previous four years. Last year, UDM reached the semifinals of the NLC and set a school record for wins in a season finishing with eight on the year. Second-year Titan head coach Laura Maness added nine newcomers to the roster this season after losing the team's first four-year senior class since women's lacrosse began in the 2009 season.

UDM will open the season on Feb. 16 at Robert Morris and will start the conference season vs. Howard at Titan Field on April 7.