Feb. 3, 2012

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GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Maryland softball team was picked to finish fifth in the Atlantic Coast Conference, as voted by the league's head coaches, announced Friday.

The Terrapins are coming off of a 40-19 season that culminated in their second straight NCAA Regionals appearance.

In 2011, Maryland went 12-7 in ACC play for the most conference wins in a season in school history. The Terps finished third in the league after being picked to finish fifth. They advanced to the ACC Semifinals before falling to North Carolina.

Georgia Tech was picked to win the league and earned 5 first-place votes. North Carolina was voted to finish second, with 2 first place votes and Florida State, last year's ACC champion, rounded out the top three with one first-place vote.

Virginia, who was picked to finish fourth, garnered just one overall vote more than the Terps with 26 to Maryland's 25. Virginia Tech, NC State and Boston College round out the preseason rankings, respectively. For more on the ACC's Predicted Order of Finish, log on to TheACC.com.

Head coach Laura Watten brings back seven starters and 12 overall letterwinners. Senior Vangie Galindo returns after one of the greatest seasons at the plate in Terrapin softball history. Her season average of .422 and 78 hits last year were both school records. Her current career batting average of .333 is the best in school history.

The ACC television schedule features seven conference games during the regular season, including the Terps' April 8 game at Georgia Tech. The final game of the three-game series will be shown live on ESPNU.

For the first time, all seven games of the ACC Championship on May 10-12 in Chapel Hill, N.C., will be on television. The four quarterfinal games on the first day of the tournament will be split between RSN and ESPN3. Both of the semifinals will be on RSN, and the ACC Championship will be on ESPN2.

The Terrapins will open the season Feb. 17-19 in Florida Atlantic's Tournament in Boca Raton, Fla. with five games. They will see 2011 NCAA Tournament teams Kentucky and Michigan, as well as Long Island, Wright State and the tournament-host Owls.