Schreiner women’s soccer picked last in ASC debut, but three Mountaineers make watch list

Schreiner women’s soccer will start its American Southwest Conference era at the bottom of the page.

The Mountaineers were picked sixth of six teams in the 2026 ASC preseason poll, released following a vote by conference head coaches and sports information directors. Schreiner totaled 14 points, 16 behind fifth-place East Texas Baptist, as the program transitions to the ASC from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.

The poll position tells one story. The watch list tells another: Schreiner placed three players — junior defender Katelyn Boyd, junior midfielder Abby De Hoyos and junior forward Aspen Ulibarri — on the conference’s 2026 Players to Watch list, matching every other program in the league. Ulibarri arrives with all-conference credentials, having earned honors last season.

Hardin-Simmons sits atop the poll with 65 points and eight of 12 first-place votes. The Cowgirls won the 2025 ASC tournament and claimed the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, and they return sophomore midfielder Tatum Barnett, the league’s preseason offensive player of the year after a first-team All-ASC freshman campaign.

Mary Hardin-Baylor, the 2025 ASC regular-season champion, was picked second with 59 points and two first-place votes. All three Crusaders on the watch list earned All-ASC honors last season, including 2025 offensive freshman of the year Gracie Ruthven.

McMurry, another program joining the ASC this fall, was slotted third with 47 points and one first-place vote. Warhawks goalkeeper Avery Anders was named the preseason defensive player of the year. Howard Payne, which returns 2025 ASC goalkeeper of the year Landry Combs, was picked fourth with 37 points, including one first-place vote, and East Texas Baptist rounded out the top five with 30.

For Schreiner, the sixth-place projection comes with a clean slate. The Mountaineers have never played a match against this ASC field that counted in these standings — and preseason polls, as any coach will note, have never decided one either.

2026 ASC Women’s Soccer Preseason Poll (first-place votes in parentheses)

1. Hardin-Simmons, 65 (8)
2. Mary Hardin-Baylor, 59 (2)
3. McMurry, 47 (1)
4. Howard Payne, 37 (1)
5. East Texas Baptist, 30
6. Schreiner, 14

2026 ASC Preseason Players of the Year

Offensive: Tatum Barnett, MF, Hardin-Simmons Defensive: Avery Anders, GK, McMurry

Schreiner’s 2026 Players to Watch selections

Katelyn Boyd, D, Jr. Abby De Hoyos, MF, Jr. Aspen Ulibarri, F, Jr.