Sept. 20, 2011
NORFOLK, Va. - The Old Dominion field hockey team has risen to No. 1 in the Kookaburra / NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll, released Tuesday. It's the first time the Lady Monarchs have been ranked at the top of the poll since November 5, 2002.
The Lady Monarchs received 940 points and all 47 first-place votes. North Carolina falls to second with 873 points. Defending National Champion Maryland, Connecticut and Syracuse round out the Top 5.
Old Dominion is off to an 8-0 start, its best opening of a season since 1997. The Lady Monarchs have knocked off seven Top 10 foes, including two teams that were ranked No. 1. ODU is a perfect 4-0 against the Atlantic Coast Conference and has outscored opponents 27-8 on the year.
The next regular season poll will be released on Tuesday, September 27.
In other news, ODU senior Emma Batten was named the Colonial Athletic Association Co-Player of the Week after scoring two goals and dishing out an assist in last weekends wins at North Carolina and Duke. This is the fourth time a Lady Monarch has won the weekly award, with Batten garnering the honor on three separate occasions.
Old Dominion opens CAA play at home this weekend against Hofstra at 5 p.m. Friday and Northeastern at 1 p.m. Sunday.
-ODU-