ST. LOUIS – The Drake University women's soccer team has been tabbed the top team by the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference preseason coaches' poll. The defending regular-season champions earned 44 points in the poll, including three first place votes.
 
Last season, Drake student-athletes earned the league's top three individual awards, and all three find themselves on this year's preseason first-team unit. Senior Rebecca Rodgers was the 2015 MVC Player of the Year, and she's joined by fellow seniors Sarah Grace Nicholson -- the 2015 MVC Defensive Player of the Year -- and Brooke Dennis -- the 2015 MVC Goalkeeper of the Year -- on the 15-player 2016 MVC preseason unit. 
 
In her career, Rodgers is a three-time all-MVC pick, and she led the conference with 10 goals and 23 total points in 2015. Her three game-winning goals tied for second-best in the MVC.  Nicholson, meanwhile, spearheaded a Drake defensive unit that allowed just five goals in league play as the Bulldogs won their first regular-season title since 2006. Dennis, meanwhile, led the league in conference games with 45 saves and a .900 save percentage, with two shutouts. She became the first-ever Drake goalie to win the league's top goalkeeper honor.  Senior Kayla Armstrong also represents the Bulldogs on the pre-season team in 2016 as an honorable mention.
 
Drake opens the 2016 season Aug. 19 at North Dakota State.
 
2016 MVC Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Drake (3) – 44
2. Loyola (1) – 39
3. Evansville (2) – 37
4. Illinois State – 29
5. Missouri State (1) – 24
6. UNI – 14
7. Indiana State – 9
 
FIRST TEAM PRE-SEASON ALL-MVC
GK Brooke Dennis, Drake, Sr. | Wauconda, Ill. (Mundelein/Ball State)
D Sarah Grace Nicholson, Drake, Sr. | Overland Park, Kan. (Olathe East)
D Emily Richardson, Evansville, Sr. | Elizabethtown, Ky. (Elizabethtown)
D Paige Jarsombeck, Illinois State, Sr. | Tinley Park, Ill. (Andrew)
D Shelby Koch, Loyola, So. | Mill Creek, Wash. (Archbishop Murphy)
D Taylor Lambouris, Loyola, So. | Farmington Hills, Mich. (North Farmington)
MF Bronwyn Boswell, Evansville, Sr. | Frisco, Texas (Centennial)
MF Mary Disidore, Missouri State, Jr. | Lenexa, Kan. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
MF Maddie Orf, Indiana State, So. | St. Charles, Mo. (Incarnate Word Academy)
F Lauren Koehl, Illinois State, Sr. | St. Charles, Ill. (St. Charles North)
F Rebecca Rodgers, Drake, Sr. | Peotone, Ill. (Peotone)
F Brooke Prondzinski, Missouri State, So. | Olathe, Kan. (Olathe South)
F Jenna Szczesny, Loyola, So. | Hoffman Estates, Ill. (Barrington)
 
HONORABLE MENTION PRE-SEASON ALL-MVC
GK Whitney Blunt, UNI, Sr. | Waterloo, Iowa (Union)
MF Kayla Armstrong, Drake, Sr. | Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Xavier)