PORTLAND, Ore. - The Great Northwest Athletic Conference released the preseason coaches poll for softball this afternoon, with Northwest Nazarene slotted second among the seven conference teams.

A year after claiming the GNAC regular season title and making their second NCAA Regional appearance, the Nighthawks received three first-place votes and 44 total points, second only by two points to Western Washington's four first-place votes and 46 total points. The Vikings finished third in the standings last season but ran the table with four-straight wins to earn the GNAC tournament championship.

With the top two teams separated by just two points, the other five teams were just as close to each other with just an incredibly narrow five-point separation. Western Oregon slots in third in the poll with 24 points, followed by Saint Martin's at 22, Simon Fraser at 21, Montana State Billings at 20, and Central Washington at 19.

Last year, NNU went 31-14 overall and 11-5 in GNAC play to win the regular-season championship. The Nighthawks won all but one regular-season conference series. The team led the conference in most offensive categories, ranking 13th in Division II with a .413 on-base percentage, 18th with a .328 batting average and 79 doubles and 21st with 398 hits. NNU was also solid in the circle with a 3.02 earned run average, leading the conference with 279 strikeouts.

The Nighthawks return most of their starting lineup in their attempt to repeat as regular season champions. Junior outfielder Maia McNicoll was named a Third Team D2CCA All-American after batting .369. She led the conference with 12 home runs and was tied for second with 48 hits and 36 RBI. Senior infielder Ivy Hommel was a Second Team All-West Region performer, batting .383 with GNAC-leading totals of 59 hits and 107 total bases. She also stole 27 bases, ranking 18th in Division II. NNU will have to replace the D2CCA All-American and West Region Player of the Year in Brittany Genuardi, who graduated in the spring and has now joined the Nighthawks' coaching staff as an assistant to 2021 GNAC Coach of the Year Rich Wagner.

The team also returns a pair of pitchers who were just as potent at the plate as they were in the circle. Sophomore Sidney Booth was named the GNAC Pitcher of the Year en route to earning Second Team NFCA All-American honors and Third Team D2CCA All-American honors. Booth amassed a 16-4 record and 1.80 earned run average, allowing just 36 earned runs and a .193 opponent batting average, and ranked 17th in Division II with 176 strikeouts. She also batted .346 with nine home runs and 41 RBI. Junior Tori Hensley earned Second Team All-GNAC honors with her 8-5 record, 3.90 earned run average and .328 batting average.

The Nighthawks' season kicks off with the aptly-named Concordia Kickoff Classic, playing five games over three days in Southern California from Feb. 3-5, beginning with Biola on Thursday the 3rd. NNU will then head to Tucson, Arizona for the MSUB Desert Stinger and follow that up with a doubleheader at Arizona Christian. The nonconference slate concludes with two four-game series against conference opponents Western Washington and Central Washington, with the WWU series on Feb. 25-26 serving as the home-opener.

GNAC play gets underway on March 11-12 with a visit to Western Washington. In conference action, the Nighthawks will face WWU, MSUB, and SMU on the road while hosting CWU, WOU, and finally SFU to close the regular season on April 29-30. The 2022 GNAC Softball Championships are scheduled for May 5-7 on the campus of Saint Martin's.