For the third year in a row, North Dakota State was selected by the Summit League’s head coaches as the front runner for the conference softball title.

The Bison received six of seven first-place votes and totaled 36 points overall in the poll.

Omaha collected 29 points and secured second place in the poll with South Dakota right behind the Mavericks with 27 points along with one first-place vote. IUPUI came in at the No. 4 spot with 21 points while Western Illinois is fifth with 15 points. Rounding out the coaches’ poll are Fort Wayne and South Dakota State.

North Dakota State is the three-time defending regular season champion and have won The Summit League Tournament five of the past six seasons. NDSU returns eight starting position players and five 2014 all-league selections, headlined by Summit League Tournament MVP pitcher Krista Menke, who led the league in wins (29). They also bring back 3B Amanda Grable, CF Alex Sobrero, 2B Cheyenne Garcia and DP/1B Jackie Stifter.

Despite the losses of league home run champion Amber Lutmer and ERA leader Dana Elsasser, Omaha is picked second in the poll. The Mavericks do bring back senior OF Allie Mathewson who led her team in batting average (.366), runs (45), doubles (13), triples (3) and stolen bases (8).

Receiving the only other first-place vote was the University of South Dakota. The Coyotes have 2014 Summit League Freshman of the Year in pitcher Rachel Cue. Cue was the ace of the staff winning 18 games in 31 starts, including six shutouts and boasted a 2.46 ERA.

IUPUI secured fourth in the coaches’ poll after a fifth-place finish in 2014. The Jaguars have a pair of All-Summit League selections returning for their sophomore seasons in UT Taylor Chitwood (First Team) and IF Roni Patterson (Second Team). They return to a lineup that was second in the league in hitting a season ago with a .298 average.

The Leathernecks of Western Illinois, who are No. 5, possess two-time Summit League Player of the Year Sammy Marshall. The senior shortstop was the league’s batting champion in 2014 with a .478 average, which ranked fourth in Division I. She also led the league with 32 stolen bases.

Projected to finish sixth in the poll is Fort Wayne with 11 points. First year Mastodons head coach Germaine Fairchild will have deep holes to fill with the loss of five First Team All-Summit honorees, including Pitcher of the Year Miranda Kramer and Dani Pugh, who set a new Summit League record with 60 runs batted in last season.

Rounding out the coaches’ poll are the South Dakota State Jackrabbits who collect eight points. SDSU will be under new leadership in first year head coach Krista Wood, who comes to Brookings after eight seasons as the head coach at Wayne State College.

The regular season begins Feb. 6, with all seven teams competing in non-league tournaments opening weekend and Summit League play starts March 21. The top six teams in the regular season standings will compete for The Summit League Softball Championship at the Ellig Sports Complex in Fargo, N.D., May 6-9. The tournament champion will earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Softball Championship.