WASHINGTON – Saint Joseph’s, the five-time defending Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament field hockey champion and 2024 national runner-up, has been voted as the league’s preseason favorite for the 2025 season. The A-10 announced the annual Preseason Poll and the 11-member Preseason All-Conference Team Wednesday ahead of the start of the season this weekend.
The Hawks were selected first in the poll with 44 total points and four first-place votes. Saint Joseph’s will be under a new head coach this season, Sam Brown, but returns last year’s A10 Defensive Player of the Year, senior Milou Kluyt. Senior Erika Culp, a first-team all-conference selection last season, and graduate student Alison Buffington, a second-team pick, also will lead things on Hawk Hill. All three of them were named to the Preseason All-Conference Team. SJU also returns two players who were named to the A10 All-Rookie Team last year, sophomores Brooke James and Adele Jardemar.
Richmond and VCU, who finished last season atop the regular-season standings with 5-1 records, were picked second and third in this year’s preseason poll. The Spiders received 42 voting points while the Rams got 37, both of them picking up a first-place vote.
Richmond brings back senior Clara Larripa, who was a first-team all-conference third-team NFHCA All-America selection last year and is a member of this year’s Preseason All-Conference Team along with senior teammate Valen Luna Paratore. Another returnee, Reese Miller, was a member of the A10 All-Rookie Team last year.
VCU went 13-5 overall in 2025 and returns two players who picked up A10 postseason honors last year, junior Emma Clements who was the A10 Goalkeeper of the Year and sophomore Lina Berhmann who was the A10 Rookie of the Year. Both are on the Preseason All-Conference Team along with senior Josefina Ventimiglia who was a second-team all-conference pick last year. Two other Rams, sophomores Emily Foerster and Angelina Gandos, were members of the A10 All-Rookie Team in 2025.
Davidson was picked fourth in the 2026 Preseason Poll with 30 points and the final first-place vote. The Wildcats return sophomore Lourdes Wolf—a first-team all-conference pick last year as a freshman—and senior Matilda Collins who was a second-team selection a year ago. They are on the 2026 Preseason All-Conference Team along with junior teammate Eva van der Koi. Sophomore goalkeeper Avery Foster was on the A10 All-Rookie Team member last season.
La Salle—under first-year head coach Mackenzie Allessie—was picked fifth in the preseason poll with 19 voting points, followed by Saint Louis (15) and affiliate member Lock Haven (9).
The 2026 Atlantic 10 field hockey season will start on Friday, with five teams in action highlighted by VCU traveling to Northwestern to face the two-time defending NCAA champion Wildcats. Conference play begins on Friday, Sept. 18, and the 2026 Atlantic 10 Field Hockey Championship will take place November 5-7 at Cary Street Field on the campus of VCU in Richmond, Va.
The league’s seven head coaches voted in both the Preseason poll and All-Conference Team, which is listed below.
2026 Atlantic 10 Field Hockey Preseason Poll
(First-place votes in parentheses)
1. Saint Joseph’s - 44 points (4)
2. Richmond - 42 (1)
3. VCU - 37 (1)
4. Davidson - 30 (1)
5. La Salle - 19
6. Saint Louis - 15
7. Lock Haven - 9
2026 Field Hockey Preseason All-Conference Team
Matilda Collins, Davidson
Eva van der Kooi, Davidson
Lourdes Wolf, Davidson
Clara Larripa, Richmond
Valen Luna Paratore, Richmond
Alison Buffington, Saint Joseph’s
Erika Culp, Saint Joseph’s
Milou Kluyt, Saint Joseph’s
Lina Behrmann, VCU
Josefina Ventimiglia, VCU
Emma Clemens, VCU (GK)