BALTIMORE, Md. – The McKendree University women's lacrosse team was one of six teams mentioned in the 2022 NIKE/US Lacrosse Division II Preseason Top 20 rankings that was released by the organization on Wednesday.

McKendree, who went 10-4 overall and 5-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference in 2021, was one of three schools from the GLVC either mentioned or ranked in the Preseason poll as defending NCAA Division II National Champion Lindenwood opens the season ranked No. 1, while Indianapolis, who went 14-2 last season and fell 17-13 in the quarterfinals of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Lindenwood, is ranked No. 2.

The Bearcats are one of six schools, the others being Assumption, Belmont Abbey, Bloomsburg (Pa.), Davenport and Mercyhurst (Pa.), that earned mentioned in this year's NIKE/US Lacrosse Division II preseason poll.

In addition to Lindenwood and UIndy, the remainder of the Preseason Top 5 includes LeMoyne at No. 3, Queens (N.C.) at No.  4 and West Chester (Pa.) is at No. 5.

During the upcoming 2022 season, the Bearcats are scheduled to play six games against teams either ranked or earning mention in the NIKE/US Lacrosse Preseason poll. McKendree will play two games with UIndy, face Davenport in Indianapolis in its third of the season, play at 10th-ranked Regis on March 15 and play at top-ranked Lindenwood on April 2.

McKendree will open its 2022 regular season schedule at home on Thursday, Feb. 10 against the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. The Bearcats first GLVC game is scheduled for April 2 at Lindenwood.

Here is the complete 2022 NIKE/US Lacrosse Division II Women's Preseason Top 20.