SE Tennessee News

The Lee University women's lacrosse team was picked to finish fourth in the annual Gulf South Conference preseason poll. The Lady Flames received 23 points in the poll with Flagler finishing atop with 36 points. Brittany White, Jaylee Giffin, and Megan Trout were named to the top returners list.

White, a senior midfielder from Colorado Springs, Colo., led the Lady Flames with 39 goals, 12 assists, 51 points, and 130 draw controls last season. She was also  one of 128 student-athletes in Division II to be honored by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) with a selection to one of the All-Region teams for 2022. White was named to the 16-member South Region Second Team. She was also named to the All-GSC First team last year. Giffin, a senior defender from Knoxville, Tenn., had 17 ground balls, 1.06 ground balls a game, and had 12 caused turnovers last season. Trout, a junior midfielder from Wilmington, NC., had  22 goals, 3 assists and 25 points last year.

Head Coach Derrel Martin has high on his returners from last year. "We lost a few key goal scorers from last year's team in Dariana Blanton and Shayna Ryan, but our belief is that we have others that will step up.  On the defensive side, we lost Jamey Ryan for the 2023 season, so we are making adjustments there.  We are solid in goal with both Kaleigh Bernard and Callie Smith returning. Brittney White returns as a dominant force on the draw circle and threat from the left side attack.  For the first time ever, she will have help on that side of the field in the form of capable attackers and fellow lefty transfers Makenna Luzier and Maggie Luzier.  This should bring better balance to our attack. Megan Trout returns as a top defender and a player with excellent lacrosse IQ who knows how to score points on her own and make everyone else look better.  On defense Jaylee Giffin is back as a solid low defender on the right side.  Her speed and ability to stop the other team's low offense always shows up in games."

Lee also had two newcomers named to the watch list. The first is Callie Curtis. Shs is a freshman midfielder from Manassas, Va. who played at Battlefield HS. The second is Makenna Luzier She is a junior attack player from Boonsboro, Md. who transferred from Shepard University. "We have an accomplished freshmen class who are adapting quickly.  Callie Curtis brings speed to our draw circle and stick skill to our attack.  Noelle Harrington is proving herself as a capable Midfielder on both ends of the field.  In addition to the Luzier sisters, we added a hard shooting Attack transfer, Kat Sweeney, who can be counted on for some goals this year," noted Martin.

Last season the Lady Flames played a very tough schedule and finished the season at 8-8 and 5-1 in GSC play. This season the schedule is just as tough. On February 25, the Lady Flames will welcome the University of Indianapolis to the Ray Conn Sports Complex. The Greyhounds went 20-1 last season and won the national championship. The Lady Flames will also host Florida Southern College who went 16-4 last season and finished the season at #7 in the country. Lee also has Lynn University and Embry-Riddle on the schedule who also finished in the top 20 last season.

Coach Martin knows he has a challenge in front of his team. "We chose to play a tough non-conference schedule this year and you will see defending National Champions University of Indianapolis coming to play on February 25th as well as a tough regional competitor in Florida Southern who is here at home on March 4th.  We travel to play some other tough regional foes in Florida when we are at Lynn University on March 8th and Embry Riddle on March 10th. The Gulf South Conference will be competitive again this year.  We open conference play at Flagler on March 26th and that should be a competitive game where we will need to excel.  Followed by another tough away game at Lander on April 2nd.  It doesn't get any easier for us but we will be back at home to play Young Harris on April 12th, Montevallo on April 15th, Shorter on April 19th, and the University of Alabama at Huntsville on April 22nd."

The Lady Flames will open the season at Tusculum University on Saturday, February 4th in Greenville, Tenn.

2023 GSC Women's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches' Poll

1. Flagler (6) – 36 pts
2. Lander – 28 pts
3. Alabama Huntsville (1) – 27 pts
4. Lee – 23 pts
5. Young Harris – 14 pts
6. Montevallo – 13 pts
7. Shorter – 6 pts

Original source can be found here