MELBOURNE, Fla. – Florida Southern was ranked No. 1 in the first-ever Sunshine State Conference preseason women’s lacrosse coaches poll, released Tuesday by the conference office. The Moccasins earned four of the five first-place votes and 16 points overall. They led No. 2 Rollins by three points. The Tars also grabbed the remaining first-place vote. Saint Leo is third in the inaugural poll with 10 points, followed by Tampa (6) and Florida Tech (5) at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. The 2015 season is the first for the five-team league sponsoring women’s lacrosse. FSC is entering its fourth season fielding a women’s lacrosse team and was formerly a Division II independent. Head coach Kara Reber has been named the Independent Coach of the Year three consecutive seasons. In 2014, the Mocs finished 16-2 and were ranked 10th in the nation in the final Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Coaches Poll. They swept SSC foes Rollins, Saint Leo and Tampa by a combined score of 55-23 last season. The Mocs were ranked eighth in the Nike/Lacrosse Magazine Division II Women’s Preseason Top 15. Florida Southern opens the 2015 SSC slate when it hosts Rollins in its first-ever SSC matchup on Friday, March 27 at 7 p.m. at Bryant at Bryant Stadium.