ACC announces preseason poll and awards

October 21, 2015

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GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Virginia Tech women's basketball team was selected to finish 13th, according to separate polls of the league’s Blue Ribbon Panel and its 15 head coaches as announced Wednesday by the Atlantic Coast Conference office.

Two-time defending champion Notre Dame is once again the ACC preseason favorite, marking the third consecutive season that the Fighting Irish have been rated the ACC preseason favorite since joining the conference prior to the 2013-14 season. Florida State, which joined the Fighting Irish in the Elite Eight of the 2015 NCAA Championship, received eight first-place votes and placed second. Louisville (two first-place votes) placed third.

Duke finished fourth in the Blue Ribbon panel voting, followed by Syracuse (5^th), Miami (6^th) and North Carolina (7^th). Virginia and NC State placed eighth and ninth respectively, while Pitt (10^th), Georgia Tech (11^th), Boston College (12^th), Virginia Tech (13^th), Wake Forest (14^th) and Clemson (15^th) rounded out the voting.

The ACC Coaches’ balloting exactly mirrored that of the Blue Ribbon panel in predicted order of finish. Notre Dame received 11 coaches’ first-place votes, with the remaining four going to Florida State.

Sophomore forward Brianna Turner of Notre Dame was named the 2015-16 ACC Preseason Player of the Year in both the Blue Ribbon Panel and the coaches’ balloting. Turner is joined on both the 2015-16 Blue Ribbon Panel and the Coaches’ Preseason All-ACC teams by Duke’s Rebecca Greenwell and Azura Stevens, Florida State’s Adut Bulgak and Leticia Romero, Louisville’s Mariya Moore, Miami’s Adrienne Motley, Notre Dame’s Lindsay Allen, Syracuse’s Alexis Peterson and Virginia’s Faith Randolph.

The Blue Ribbon Panel’s Newcomer Watch List features Duke’s Angela Salvadores, Louisville’s Asia Durr, North Carolina’s Destinee Walker and the Notre Dame tandem of Arike Ogunbowale and Marina Mabrey.

Salvadores, Durr, Walker and Ogunbowale were also named to the ACC Coaches’ Newcomer Watch List, along with Duke’s Kyra Lambert and North Carolina’s Stephanie Watts.

Predicted Order of Finish (as selected by the Blue Ribbon Panel)
1. Notre Dame – 753 points (41 first place votes)
2. Florida State – 695 (8 first place votes)
3. Louisville – 649 (2 first place votes)
4. Duke - 638
5. Syracuse - 544
6. Miami – 477
7. North Carolina – 435
8. Virginia – 364
9. NC State – 336
10. Pitt – 329
11. Georgia Tech – 328
12. Boston College – 204
13. Virginia Tech – 148
14. Wake Forest – 139
15. Clemson – 81

Preseason Player of the Year (as selected by the Blue Ribbon Panel)
Brianna Turner, So., F, Notre Dame

Preseason All-ACC Team (as selected by the Blue Ribbon Panel)
Rebecca Greenwell, R-So., G, Duke
Azura Stevens, So., F/G, Duke
Adut Bulgak, Sr., C, Florida State
Leticia Romero, Jr., G, Florida State
Mariya Moore, So., G, Louisville
Adrienne Motley, Jr., G, Miami
Lindsay Allen, Jr., G, Notre Dame
Brianna Turner, So., F, Notre Dame
Alexis Peterson, Jr., G, Syracuse
Faith Randolph, Sr., G, Virginia

Newcomer Watch List (as selected by the Blue Ribbon Panel)
Angela Salvadores, Fr, G, Duke
Asia Durr, Fr, G, Louisville
Destinee Walker, Fr., G, North Carolina
Marina Mabrey, Fr., G, Notre Dame
Arike Ogunbowale, Fr., G, Notre Dame

Predicted Order of Finish (as selected by the Head Coaches)
1. Notre Dame – 221 points (11 first place votes)
2. Florida State – 212 (4 first place votes)
3. Louisville - 190
4. Duke - 185
5. Syracuse - 162
6. Miami – 146
7. North Carolina – 118
8. Virginia – 113
9. NC State – 105
10. Pitt – 93
11. Georgia Tech – 85
12. Boston College – 57
13. Virginia Tech – 52
14. Wake Forest – 43
15. Clemson – 18

Preseason Player of the Year (as selected by the Head Coaches)
Brianna Turner, So., F, Notre Dame

Preseason All-ACC Team (as selected by the Head Coaches)
Rebecca Greenwell, R-So., G, Duke
Azura Stevens, So., F/G, Duke
Adut Bulgak, Sr., C, Florida State
Leticia Romero, Jr., G, Florida State
Mariya Moore, So., G, Louisville
Adrienne Motley, Jr., G, Miami
Lindsay Allen, Jr., G, Notre Dame
Brianna Turner, So., F, Notre Dame
Alexis Peterson, Jr., G, Syracuse
Faith Randolph, Sr., G, Virginia

Newcomer Watch List (as selected by the Head Coaches)
Kyra Lambert, Fr, G, Duke
Angela Salvadores, Fr., G, Duke
Asia Durr, Fr., G, Louisville
Destinee Walker, Fr., G, North Carolina
Stephanie Watts, Fr., G, North Carolina
Arike Ogunbowale, Fr., G, Notre Dame
*due to a tie in voting, an extra member was added to the Newcomer Watch List

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