The University of Minnesota Duluth will try to capture a second consecutive league title as the preseason coaches' poll was released Wednesday and, according to the coaches, will have a fight to regain supremacy in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, slating the Bulldogs to finish fourth for the second straight season.
 
UMD (41-13, 19-5 NSIC) received 182 points in the poll, including one first-place tally. Minnesota State Mankato and Winona State share the top spot with 209 points. The Mavericks and Warriors combined for 13 of the 16 first-place votes. Augustana holds down the third spot amassing 184 points, two more than UMD. Minot State came in fifth with 177 points to round out the top five.
 
The Bulldogs have 10 letterwinners (five starters) returning from a squad that claimed a share of the regular season conference title from a year ago and ninth-year head coach and the league's reigning Coach of the Year Jen Banford. Two sophomores, pitcher Cayli Sadler and infielder Sami Schnyder, have been tagged as the two players to watch in the NSIC.
 
Sadler, a native of Brooklyn Park, Minn., had 24 appearances in the circle (including 13 starts) as a rookie hurler, going 10-4 with a 2.37 ERA. She accumulated a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.66 in 100.1 innings pitched and held opposing batters to a .225 average. Schnyder, a product of Waconia, Minn., started all 54 games as a freshman and set a single-season record of 119 assists at third base. She batted .299 with a .371 on-base percentage and a .427 slugging percentage. She also led the team in doubles (11) and was the 14th toughest batter to strike out (four SO in 157 at-bats) a season ago.
 
The season will begin in Bentonville, Ark. in an eight-state tournament hosted by the University of Arkansas-Monticello on Feb. 14. The Bulldogs kick off NSIC action against St. Cloud State on the road in a double header March 25. The NSIC Tournament will be held on May1-3 in Sioux Falls, S.D. with the top eight teams squaring off in a double elimination format.