BUIES CREEK, N.C. - Campbell has been voted first in the 2022 Big South women's soccer preseason poll by league head coaches. Senior Jessica Donald has been named preseason offensive player of the year and senior Delaney Baumbick has been selected as preseason defensive player of the year.

Campbell, which finished as conference regular season champs last season, led the poll with 97 points including seven first-place votes. High Point followed with 90 points and the remaining three first-place votes. Radford was third with 79 points followed by Longwood (72), Gardner-Webb (54), Charleston Southern (53), UNC Asheville (40), Winthrop (33), USC Upstate (20) and Presbyterian (12). Jenna Moran of Charleston Southern was selected as the Big South preseason goalkeeper of the year, rounding out the awards.

"Preseason polls generally recount recent history and that becomes one way of forecasting the coming season," head coach Jeff Gross said. "There are good coaches in this league who will get the best out of their teams. That's the beauty of sport, you have to play the games; then we will see how it settles out when it's done."

A two-time All-South region and Big South first team selection, Donald finished second among Big South leaders with a career-high 26 points (9 goals, 8 assists) in 18 games in 2021. Additionally, she was named the league's women's soccer scholar-athlete of the year. Donald Ranks second on Campbell's career assists (23) list, eighth in points (63) and ninth in goals (20).

Baumbick, a Big South second team selection in 2019 and all-tournament team honoree in 2020-21, started in 17 games last season. Her 1,534 minutes ranked fourth-most on the team as she helped the backline to five shutouts and the third-fewest goals (22) in the Big South last year. The Cleveland, Ohio native has been a constant as a defender over the past three years, assisting Campbell to 20 total shutouts.

"Jessica and Delaney are quality student-athletes and they should be acknowledged," Gross said. "Their body of work shows us both women are worthy of being recognized. That being said there are student-athletes in each team who are worthy of the same recognition. Jessica and Delaney are about their team and their teammates, we see it every day."

Campbell hosts Elon on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. in an exhibition match. The regular season begins Aug. 18 as the Fighting Camels host Mercer.

2022 BIG SOUTH PRESEASON WOMEN'S SOCCER POLL