The USA South Athletic Conference's women's tennis coaches have released their 2026 preseason poll. Head coaches do not vote for their own teams in the balloting.
N.C. Wesleyan, the three-time defending USA South regular season and tournament champions, was placed atop the rankings thanks to receiving 23 total points and four of the possible six first place votes. The Battling Bishops will look to capture their sixth regular season and tournament titles in the past seven seasons. Pfeiffer grabbed 20 total points and one first place vote to place second in this season's poll while Southern Virginia rounded out the top-three with 18 points and the final first place nod.
Since the first Conference women's tennis preseason poll in 2003, the N.C. Wesleyan program has been picked to capture the title six times, succeeding on five occasions. The team picked first in the history of the preseason poll has played for the Conference tournament championship all 22 times, winning 17 League titles. Conversely, the team picked second in the preseason poll has won the Conference championship four times. N.C. Wesleyan, in 2015, is the only team to be picked lower than second (third) in the preseason poll to win a tournament championship. The last year a preseason favorite has not captured the championship was 2018.
The 2026 USA South Women’s Tennis Tournament is set for Friday-Saturday, April 24-25 and will take place exclusively on the campus of N.C. Wesleyan University. The league’s top-four teams will advance to compete for the title.
| 2026 USA South Coaches Preseason Women's Tennis Poll |
| Rank |
Institution (1st Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. |
N.C. Wesleyan* (4) |
23 |
| 2. |
Pfeiffer (1) |
20 |
| 3. |
Southern Virginia (1) |
18 |
| 4. |
Methodist |
15 |
| 5. |
Salem |
8 |
| 6. |
Meredith |
6 |
| *Defending Regular Season & Tournament Champion |
All-Time Women's Tennis Conference Records
(listed by wins of current Conference members...records since 2004-05 when a regular season and a tournament champion were included...not counting 2020 COVID season) |
| Team |
Seasons |
Record |
Pct. |
Conference Championships
(Reg. Season / Tournament) |
| Methodist |
20 |
162-12 |
.895 |
22 / 10 |
| Meredith |
17 |
104-48 |
.684 |
1 / 1 |
| N.C. Wesleyan |
20 |
103-69 |
.599 |
7 / 7 |
| William Peace |
19 |
45-120 |
.273 |
0 / 0 |
| Greensboro |
17 |
44-107 |
.291 |
0 / 0 |
| Pfeiffer |
6 |
29-18 |
.617 |
0 / 0 |
| Southern Virginia |
4 |
26-7 |
.788 |
0 / 0 |
| Brevard |
6 |
26-18 |
.591 |
0 / 0 |
| Mary Baldwin |
17 |
25-125 |
.167 |
0 / 0 |
| Salem |
7 |
18-38 |
.321 |
0 / 0 |