THOMASVILLE, N.C. -- Belmont Abbey has earned the top spot in the 2004 CVAC Women's Soccer preseason poll. The poll is voted on by the league's head coaches. Anderson, which barely missed the CVAC Tournament last season, was picked ninth in the poll. Belmont Abbey head coach Scot Wieland has five starters returning from the 2003 team that finished the season 15-7 and dominated the CVAC, going unbeaten in the regular season (10-0) and beat Coker 2-1 in the CVAC tournament final. Leading the way this 2004 season will be three first-team All-CVAC performers from 2003 -- senior midfielder/co-captain Lacey Sorenson, junior Lindsay Megill, and senior goalkeeper Katherine Bogie. Finishing second in the poll is Queens University of Charlotte. The Lady Royals, 5-3-2 in the CVAC last fall, look to improve their standing in the CVAC. Having lost just two seniors to graduation, the Lady Royals return nine starters and fifteen players while adding six talented freshmen. Tying for third in the poll are Barton College and Lees-McRae College. Barton returns nine lettermen, including seven starters, from a young team that surged to a third-place CVAC finish (6-3-1) last season and finished 8-9-1 overall. Barton, under the direction of second-year head coach Stacey Tant, has added five talented freshmen and one transfer to its lineup, so it hopes to make a run at the league title it won in 2001 and shared in 2002. Lees-McRae returns a solid squad from last year's campaign. They will be led by junior goalie Anita Hekman, and senior defender Amanda Caron. In the midfield, the Bobcats anchors are sophomores Heather Klause (a second-team All-CVAC member in 2003), and Danielle Glenn. Lees-McRae will look to improve on their 11-6-3 overall and 7-1-2 conference record from 2003. Rounding out the poll are: Pfeiffer, Coker, Erskine, Queens, Limestone & Anderson tied, and Mount Olive respectively. CVAC Women's Soccer Preseason Poll (# of First Place Votes in Parenthesis) 1. Belmont Abbey (10) 100 2. Queens (1) 82 T-3. Barton 73 T-3. Lees-McRae 73 5. Pfeiffer 71 6. Coker 56 7. Erskine 42 8. St. Andrews 36 T-9. Anderson 27 T-9. Limestone 27 11. Mount Olive 18