The Dolphins bring a wealth of experience back to the court this season, returning three seniors, one junior and three sophomores.

“Before last year, we came off back to back championships and we’ve seen the conference get a lot tougher,” said JU head coach Shane Wood. “I like the continuity of our squad and we’re as together of a team as I’ve seen since starting at JU. With the preseason rankings, everyone’s guessing but in the end I think we’ll be in the mix with those top teams.”

Stetson took the number one nod with 114 points (six first place votes), followed by ETSU (107, 3) and UNF (99, 1) to round out the top three. Following UNF is USC Upstate (90, 1), Jacksonville (70), Kennesaw State (66), Campbell (59), FGCU (51), Mercer (30), Belmont (26) and Lipscomb (14).

ETSU took the preseason player of the year honors with senior Yevgeniya Stupak.

The Dolphins will hit the court for their opening match at home against North Texas on Jan. 23 at 10 a.m.