DENVER—The Preseason all-WAC softball team was announced today as voted on by the conference's eight coaches. Hawai'i All-American third baseman Clare Warwick was named WAC Preseason Player of the Year. This is the second-straight season that a Rainbow Wahine player earned the preseason honor with former Hawai`i All-American Kate Robinson earning the honor in 2008. Joining Warwick on the preseason all-WAC team are seniors Audrey Andrade and Tanisha Milca.

 

The WAC coaches selected Hawai'i to finish third in the 2009 regular season. The 'Bows were edged out of second place by one vote, with Nevada coming in second with 40 points. Fresno State was picked to win the 2009 WAC regular-season crown with 48 points. This is the 12th time in the last 14 years that the Bulldogs have been the preseason favorite to take the crown. 

Warwick, an all-WAC selection the past two seasons, will anchor both the defense and the offense in 2009. She has started 167 straight games for the Rainbow Wahine primarily at third base and has a career .338 batting average and has scored 129 runs while driving in 68. Last season, the Canberra, Australia native, hit .322 with seven doubles, six home runs, and led UH going 6-for-6 in stolen bases.

 

Andrade, a two-time all-WAC, second-team selection from Glendale, Calif., returns for her senior campaign at first base. Andrade hit .241 overall in 2008, finishing the season strong. Named to the WAC all-tournament team, she helped lead the Rainbow Wahine down the stretch in the post season, hitting .368 combined in the WAC tournament and the NCAA Regional in Tempe, Ariz.

 

Milca has patrolled rightfield for most of her Hawai'i career, has been named to the all-WAC second team all three years. The senior from Kailua, O'ahu, hit .330 in 2008 with 35 runs, 10 doubles, two triples and four home runs. In her career, Milca carries a .310 batting average in 160 games played. She was also stellar defensively, throwing out 22 runners from rightfield last year alone.

 

The Rainbow Wahine, led by head coach Bob Coolen, are hoping to build off 2008, in which UH finished the season with a 40-21 record and advanced to its second straight and eighth overall trip to the NCAA tournament. The Rainbow Wahine who return 15 letterwinners and four starters, will open their season with the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic, Feb. 5-7. It will be an early test for the 'Bows with Oklahoma, LSU and UAB coming to town.

Preseason All-WAC Team
Pos. Player, Year, School
C - Noelle Micka, So., Nevada
1B - Audrey Andrade, Sr., Hawai'i
2B - Kym Silagyi, Sr., Nevada
3B - Clare Warwick, Sr., Hawai'i
SS - Amberly Waits, Sr., Louisiana Tech
OF - Tanisha Milca, Sr., Hawai'i
OF - Brittany Puzey, Sr., Nevada
OF - Kristi Randall, Sr., New Mexico State
P - Morgan Melloh, So., Fresno State
UT - Krissi Oliver, Sr., Louisiana Tech
DP - Stacey Lien, Sr., New Mexico State
At-Large - Brittany McConnell, C, Sr., San Jose State 
At-Large - Haley Perkins, 3B, Sr., Fresno State 

Player of the Year
Clare Warwick, Sr., Hawai'i 

Pitcher of the Year
Morgan Melloh, So., Fresno State 

2009 WAC Preseason Poll

Rank Team (1st-Place Votes) Points

1. Fresno State (6) 48

2. Nevada (1) 40

3. Hawai'i (1) 39

T-4. Louisiana Tech 28

New Mexico State 28

6. San Jose State 21

7. Utah State 12

8. Boise State 8

 

                                                                                                     -UH-