WISE - - The South Atlantic Conference released its Preseason Women's Basketball Coaches' Poll and Preseason All-Conference teams Tuesday. UVA Wise was picked to finish tied for ninth in the poll while senior guard Caitlyn Ross and redshirt junior guard Nia Vanzant earned Preseason Second-Team All-SAC honors. Carson-Newman was tabbed as the league's preseason favorite with seven first-place votes finishing slightly ahead of Wingate who received six first-place votes.

The honors for Ross and Vanzant should come as no surprise as the duo has been mainstays in the lineup for Head Coach Jamie Cluesman.

Ross has been a two-time all-league performer in her career while also garnering SAC All-Freshman Team acclaim. The 5-foot-6 point guard enters her final collegiate season with 924 points and 418 assists. The 418 assists leave the Kingston, Tenn. product 112 assists shy of the all-time UVA Wise record of 530 currently held by Amber Carter.

Vanzant has been one of the more consistent scorers in program history. A two-time All-SAC selection, Vanzant has amassed 1,144 points to this point in her career and is coming off a season where she reached double-figure scoring in 26-of-28 games. The 5-foot-7 Murfreesboro, Tenn. native has twice been the SAC Player of the Week during her career as she has averaged 15.1 points per game over her first 76 collegiate games.

As a team, UVA Wise is coming off a 12-16 campaign that saw the team's season end in the quarterfinal round of the SAC Tournament. The Cavaliers began the season 3-11 before rebounding to win nine of the next 13 games to qualify for the conference tournament.

A big reason for the turnaround was the play of Katlin Burger. A 5-foot-10 forward, Burger emerged down the stretch as key contributor on the interior. The Walland, Tenn. native would finish her inaugural collegiate season with a flurry as she scored in double-figures in each of her team's final six games, including a 24-point 10-rebound outburst in a victory against Queens University of Charlotte.  

Cluesman's crew should also receive a boost in the post from senior Leah Kestner and transfer Kaitlin Bailey. The 5-foot-11 Kestner (Chilhowie, Va.) has appeared in 41 games during her career while the six-foot-1 Bailey (Unicoi, Tenn.) comes to the program after spending a year at Anderson University where she made nine starts and averaged over 20 minutes per game. Sophomore Alexis Warren (Chesterfield, Va.) is back in the fold after the 6-foot-1 center played in seven games as a freshman.

The team boasts four other returners at the guard position in sophomore Sable Burnside (Morristown, Tenn.), 5-foot-9 sophomore Josie Hester (Huntersville, N.C.), 5-foot-5 redshirt freshman Cloey Frantz (Fayetteville, W.Va.) and 5-foot-10 junior Erin Egerbrecht (Johnson City, Tenn.).

Burnside has the ability to play inside and outside with her 5-foot-10 frame, Hester can be a long-range threat for the team after making 33.3 percent of her 3-point attempts last winter, Frantz is returning after playing limited minutes last season due to an injury and Egerbrecht has played in 15 games in her college career.

A trio of true freshmen are on the roster. Clinton, Tenn. native Sarah Burton is a 5-foot-7 guard who scored more than 2,000 points during her prep career, 5-foot-11 Allyson Fleenor (Pulaski, Va.) earned VHSL Class 3 All-State honors for the Cougars and local product Anna Whited (St. Paul, Va.) is on the team after excelling as a multi-sport athlete at Eastside High School.

Now in her fifth season at the helm of the program, Cluesman has tallied 52 wins over her first four campaigns while qualifying for postseason play in 3-of-4 seasons.

New to Cluesman's staff this season is Taylor Miller who most recently served four seasons at NCAA Division III Edgewood College (Wisc.) as an assistant coach. A team captain during her playing career at Otterbein College (Ohio), Miller brings five combined years of coaching experience to the program.

Former UVA Wise standout Kalee Johnson is also new to the staff. Johnson amassed 1,383 points during her career to rank 10th in program history in scoring while also earning all-league honors twice during her career.

The Cavs will embark on a challenging schedule this winter. In addition to a SAC schedule that features three schools that appeared in the NCAA Tournament last season, UVA Wise plays a challenging out-of-conference slate. The team opens the season with an exhibition game at Morehead State on Nov. 1 before beginning the regular year in the SAC – Peach Belt Challenge at home on Nov. 11 – 12 against Flagler and Clayton State. The non-conference schedule also sees the team host local rival King and the University of Charleston who advanced to the third round of the NCAA Division II Tournament last season. Early out-of-league games also include Belmont Abbey, Livingstone, Concord and Winston-Salem State. A trip to Puerto Rico awaits in December for a pair of games before returning to the mainland to tangle with Bluefield State in a home-and-home series in the new year.

Overall, UVA Wise will play 15 games at home this season and the Prior Center lights have shined brightly on the team in recent history. Since Cluesman took over in 2018, the Cavs are winning 60 percent of their games inside the Prior Center.

The complete Preseason SAC Coaches' Poll and Preseason All-SAC Teams may be found below:

Rank      School                   (1st)                   Score
1.           Carson-Newman (7)                      139
2.           Wingate                (6)                      136
3.           Anderson                                        116
4.           Catawba                                          113
5.           Limestone                                      93
6.           Lincoln Memorial                          79
7.           Lenoir-Rhyne                                  74
8.           Newberry                                        71
T-9.        Tusculum                                        60
T-9.        UVA Wise                                        60
11.         Coker                                               33
12.         Mars Hill                                          27
13.         Emory & Henry                              13

First Team
Quin Byrd, Limestone
Emily Harman, Lenoir-Rhyne
Lyrik Thorne, Catawba
Lindsey Taylor, Carson-Newman
Bryanna Troutman, Wingate
Braelyn Wykle, Carson-Newman
Second Team
Brandi Hudson, Lenoir-Rhyne
Hannah Clark, Wingate
Nia Vanzant, UVA Wise
Caitlyn Ross, UVA Wise
Reagan McCray, Limestone
Mya Belton, Tusculum
Third Team
Diamond McDowell, Anderson
Sara McIntosh, Catawba
Brittney Stafford, Anderson
Maddie Gillie, Mars Hill
Jordan Maney, Lincoln Memorial
Janiya Downs, Catawba