Feb. 5, 2013

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – Five Atlantic Coast Conference women’s lacrosse teams will enter the 2013 season ranked in both the media and coaches polls, as announced Tuesday by the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association and last week by deBeer.

Maryland, the four-time defending ACC Champion and 2012 Final Four participant, enters as the No. 4 team in the country in both rankings. The Terrapins earned one first place vote from the coaches. 2012 ACC runner-up North Carolina will start the 2013 season ranked No. 5 in both polls after earning 155 points from the media and 321 from the coaches.

The Duke Blue Devils are a consensus top 10 team, ranked No. 6 by the media and No. 7 by the coaches. Virginia is slotted as the No. 8 team in the IWLCA Poll and No. 11 in the deBeer Poll.

Ranked No. 20 by the coaches, Boston College tallied 32 points and is No. 18 in the media poll.

The ACC leads the nation with four teams ranked in the top 10 of the IWLCA Poll, and the five total ranked teams ties the American Lacrosse Conference for the most in the country.

The 2013 season gets underway this Friday, Feb. 8, with Duke hosting Virginia Tech at 5 p.m. North Carolina hosts No. 3 Florida Saturday at 12 p.m., and Maryland and Duke open play on Sunday.