CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Longwood University men's and women's tennis teams were both picked to finish ninth in the 2013 Big South Conference Preseason Tennis Polls released today by the league office.

The Longwood women's team received 18 points to take ninth place among the conference's 10 teams based on a vote by the head coaches. The Lancers, in their first season as a member of the Big South, finished ahead of Presbyterian College. Winthrop University received nine first place votes and 99 total points to take first place in the poll, after winning the Big South Conference Tournament and advancing to the NCAA Tournament last season. Charleston Southern University was selected second and Coastal Carolina University took third. Campbell University (fourth), Liberty University (fifth), Radford University (sixth), Gardner-Webb University (seventh) and UNC Asheville (eighth) also finished ahead of Longwood.

“I am very excited to enter conference play in a month,” said head coach Jakob Gustafsson. “The preseason ranking is not something I would look at too much since this is our first year in the conference. We realize we would have to prove ourselves no matter where we were ranked. I'm looking forward to seeing the women's team raising some eyebrows as we play against some very strong teams in the Big South.”

The LU women open the 2013 season on January 19 against Morgan State University in Richmond beginning at 1 p.m. Seniors Hannah Hill|Portsmouth, Va., Marta Pinyol| Barcelona, Spain and Allison Shulman|Richmond lead this year's squad.

The Longwood men's tennis team collected 13 points to place ninth out of nine teams in the league's preseason poll. Radford, who captured its fifth Big South Tournament title last season, earned five first place votes and 77 points overall to take the top spot in the poll, while Campbell and Coastal Carolina tied for second place. Liberty (tied-fourth), Winthrop (tied-fourth), Presbyterian (sixth), UNC Asheville (seventh) and Gardner-Webb (eighth) also finished ahead of Longwood.

“I have always enjoyed being an underdog myself, so with this preseason ranking we can go into our conference play without any pressure,” commented Gustafsson. “I'm excited that the men will have the chance to prove themselves against the other teams in the conference and I am confident that we will make a good impression in our first year."

The men's team also begins competition on Jan. 19, as the squad travels to in-state foe Virginia Tech. Competition is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. Senior Giorgi Khmiadashvili|Tbilisi, Georgia and junior Edward Becker|Sydney Australia look to lead the team this season.