NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Eight-time defending A-10 champion, Massachusetts, has again been picked atop the 2017 Women’s Lacrosse Preseason Poll, the league announced Friday.

UMass received nine first place votes to claim the top spot with 98 points. Richmond received one first place tally and 86 points overall, finishing in second, while Saint Joseph's earned 81 points to take third in the poll.

George Mason followed behind with 74 points earning the fourth spot, while Duquesne (51 points), Davidson (47) and La Salle (40) finished fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.

George Washington (36), St. Bonaventure (20), and VCU (17), who completed its first season as a Division I team last year, rounded out the poll.

UMass is coming off a 20-2 campaign in 2016 which saw the Minutewomen reach the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament after winning its eighth straight A-10 Championship. UMass returns two-time A-10 Midfielder of the Year, Hannah Murphy, who ranked third nationally with 152 draws last year, setting a single-season record for the program and the A-10. The Minutewomen have gone undefeated in conference play in the previous six seasons.

Richmond, last year's runner-up, earned the final bid to the championship, then rattled off a pair of come-from behind victories to make an appearance in the finale, falling 10-7 to the Minutewomen. The Spiders, who have competed in six of the last seven A-10 championship title games, return eight starters, including All-Conference Second Team selections, Leslie Espenschied and Kim Egizi.

The Hawks return 21 letterwinners, including nine starters, from a squad that won nine games and reached the Atlantic 10 Championship semifinals last spring including All-Conference First Team selection Nora McCallion, and 2016 Rookie of the Year, Rebecca Lane.

The 2017Atlantic 10 Women's Lacrosse Championship will be held May 4-7 at Saint Joseph's Sweeney Field. The Championship will feature an extended bracket of six teams for the second year.