West Hartford, CT ? Juniors Erica Beverly and Diana Delva highlighted the America East Preseason All-Conference Team as the Hawks were picked to finish second in the America East according to a poll of the conference coaches. The Vermont Catamounts were selected as the preseason favorite, receiving five of the nine available first place votes (coaches are not allowed to vote for their own team).

The Hawks have been selected as the preseason favorite for the last four seasons, but with the return of the 2008 America East Player of the Year, Courtnay Pilypaitis, and 2008 America East Defensive Player of the Year, May Kotsopoulos, the Catamounts received 61 total points in the coaches' poll, one more than Hartford.

Rounding out the top-five teams in the conference standings were Boston University with 50 points, Albany with 41 points and UMBC with 31 points. Binghamton (25 points), New Hampshire (22), Maine (18) and Stony Brook (16) rounded out the nine-team poll.

Beverly was one of two unanimous choices for the preseason team with Pilypaitis as the other. The preseason distinction for Beverly and Delva is the first for either player, while both earned postseason honors last year, Beverly on the first team and all-defensive team and Delva on the second team. Delva and Beverly finished second and third on the team in scoring a year ago with 9.4 points-per-game and 8.6 ppg, respectively. Boston University's Jesyka Burks-Wiley and UMBC's Carlee Cassidy rounded out the Preseason All-Conference Team. 

Hartford is coming off a school record 28 wins in 2007-08, including the program's second-straight trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and the third-ever win over a ranked opponent, #23 Michigan State. The Hawks defeated Syracuse in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament behind the heroics of senior MaryLynne Schaefer, who scored eight points in the final 55 seconds to secure the victory.

The Hawks will play one of the toughest schedules in the country including the possibility of seven opponents who played in the NCAA Tournament a year ago. Highlighting that list is Connecticut, Duke and Louisville. The women's team will open the new season at home against Dartmouth on Saturday, November 15 at 2:00 p.m.