Aug. 9, 2007

FULLERTON, CA - The Cal State Fullerton women's soccer team was selected to finish fourth in the 2007 Big West Conference race according to a vote of the league's coaches released on Thursday afternoon by the conference office.

Defending regular season champion Long Beach State was picked to repeat as conference champs, receiving five first-place votes and 77 points overall to outdistance the field.

Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara each received two first-place votes and tied for second place overall with 63 points, just four points ahead of the Titans in fourth with 59 points.

UC Riverside and Cal State Northridge follow with 41 and 37 points, respectively while Pacific (32 points), UC Davis (20), and UC Irvine (13) round out the poll.

Fullerton, which has won the last two Big West Conference Tournament titles, is led by first-year head coach Demian Brown, who has helped the Titans to NCAA Tournament berths in each of the last two years.

He will have plenty to work with in his rookie campaign as Fullerton returns 14 letter winners and eight starters off of last season's squad that finished 12-8-2 overall and 4-2-1 in conference play.

The Titans open their 2007 regular season on Aug. 31 in Las Vegas, Nev., as they take on the host Rebels at the UNLV adidas Classic.

BIG WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S SOCCER PRESEASON POLL
1. Long Beach State (5) - 77
t2. Cal Poly (2) - 63
t2. UC Santa Barbara (2) - 63
4. Cal State Fullerton - 59
5. UC Riverside - 41
6. Cal State Northridge - 37
7. Pacific - 32
8. UC Davis - 20
9. UC Irvine - 13

() - first place votes