Bears motivated by preseason Southern Conference poll

The Mercer women’s soccer team was picked fourth in the Southern Conference preseason poll, and Bears senior Maddie Clark is not happy about it.

Despite having 10 starters returning and going 5-3-1 in conference play last year, Mercer was picked behind Samford, Furman and UNC Greensboro. Clark and Katelyn Dimopoulos were named to the preseason all-conference team.

“I was actually really proud of myself and proud of Dimo for making it,” Clark said about the preseason all-conference team. “It’s nice to get honored, but they picked us fourth again, which is kind of annoying, because I feel like we deserve more than that.”

Mercer is 11-4-3 in two seasons in conference games since joining the Southern Conference and won the tournament title in 2014. The Bears open their season Friday at Alabama A&M.

This story was originally published August 17, 2016 at 12:07 PM with the headline "Bears motivated by preseason Southern Conference poll."