Carbondale Reporter

The Southern Illinois University (SIU) softball team has been selected as the favorite in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Preseason Poll. The poll, released by the league on Tuesday, also named Jackie Lis and Emma Austin to the Preseason All-Valley Team.

SIU received 129 total votes and four first-place votes. Belmont was picked to finish second with 125 overall votes and three first-place votes, followed by Northern Iowa with 121 total votes and four first-place nods. UNI had been chosen as the favorite for each of the previous three seasons. UIC was another team that received a first-place vote.

Lis and Austin secured their spots on the Preseason All-MVC Team for a second consecutive year. SIU is one of two teams with multiple players selected, alongside Illinois State which had four players named to the team.

Southern Illinois has won back-to-back MVC Tournaments and claimed its fifth regular season championship in 2024, marking its first since 2010. The Salukis have also won the conference tournament in three of the last four seasons: 2021, 2023, and 2024.

The Salukis will start their 2025 season against Appalachian State at Auburn, Alabama on Friday at 10 a.m.