MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women’s soccer team sits at No. 12 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) NCAA Division I Women’s National Preseason Rankings.

 

The Mountaineers’ position is three spots better than the team’s No. 15 ranking in the final 2014 NSCAA NCAA Division I Women’s National Rankings. The squad’s ranking matches its highest preseason position, first hit at the onset of the 2008 season and again in 2014.

 

WVU is the highest-ranked Big 12 Conference team. Texas Tech follows at No. 15, and Kansas sits at No. 23. Texas and Oklahoma received votes. Two of the Mountaineers’ early-season opponents also are ranked, as Penn State is No. 6 and Virginia Tech is No. 13.

 

Reigning NCAA champion Florida State is No. 1, with Virginia following at No. 2, Stanford at No. 3, UCLA at No. 4 and Texas A&M at No. 5. North Carolina sits behind the Nittany Lions at No. 7, and Florida, Notre Dame and Pepperdine round out the top 10.

 

The Mountaineers were ranked each week in 2014 and hit as high as No. 7 in the Nov. 11 poll following the team’s successful defense of its conference title at the Big 12 Soccer Championship. The ranking was the team’s highest position since sitting at No. 7 in the Sept. 2, 2009 poll. WVU ranked as high as No. 6 three times in 2006.

 

WVU opens its 2015 preseason camp on Wednesday, Aug. 5. Fifteen letterwinners return from a 2014 squad that won its third straight Big 12 regular-season title and second straight championship crown, including six seniors and All-America defender Kadeisha Buchanan, the two-time reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. The Mountaineers compiled a 16-2-4 record in 2014 and ended the year on a program-record 19-match unbeaten streak.