COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) announced the 2024 Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll on Wednesday afternoon, which featured Black Hills State University voted 12^th by the league's coaches with 27 points. The 2024 Yellow Jacket women's soccer regular season gets underway on Thursday, September 5, when they play the first of two games at the Rimrock Classic in Billings, Montana, with a 4 p.m. kickoff against Carroll.
 
2024 RMAC Women's Soccer Preseason Poll

School (First-place votes)	Points
1. Colorado School of Mines (7)	139
2. UCCS (6)	134
3. Colorado Mesa	118
4. Regis	111
5. MSU Denver	98
6. Fort Lewis	86
7. Westminster	83
8. CSU Pueblo	69
T9. Adams State	49
T9. Western Colorado	49
11. Colorado Christian	38
12. Black Hills State	27
13. New Mexico Highlands	13

 
KEY RETURNERS
Allie Brown leads a veteran group of returners in the Black Hills State program as the team captain, entering her fifth season with 47 career starts. She helped the Yellow Jackets notch back-to-back shutout wins a year ago to open the season, giving BHSU their best start in program history. Overall, Brown has been a part of six career shutouts.
 
Led by Jayda Hammer and Hailey Warren, Black Hills State returns their top-5 points leaders from a year ago. Hammer posted a team-best four goals during her sophomore season in 2023 for a total of eight points in 15 games played and ten starts. Two of her goals played out to be game-winners, as BHSU downed Dakota Wesleyan and Colorado Christian. Additionally, Hammer's pair of goals in the season-opening win against DWU was the most by a Yellow Jacket since the 2021 season.
 
Warren added a pair of goals during the 2023 campaign and led the team with three assists on the year for seven points. Her pair of assists during a 5-0 BHSU victory over Mount Marty was a season-high within the program and the most by a Yellow Jacket since the 2021 season.
 
IMPACT NEWCOMERS
Bailey Smith highlights a large freshman class for the Yellow Jackets, coming to BH from Baldwin High School out of Baldwin, Kansas. She was named the 2024 KHSAA Midfielder of the Year in Class 4-1A and was the Lawrence Journal-World Area Player of the Year. In 2023 she led the Bulldogs to a fourth-place finish at the state tournament. Smith claimed All-State honors during both her junior and senior seasons and capped her prep career by being named a United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-American.
 
Leading a group of standout junior college transfers joining the program will be Anacel Valenzuela-Acosta, who was a 2-time NJCAA Division II National Champion (2021 Spring & 2022) at Phoenix College (Arizona). During the Bears 2021 spring title run she scored eight goals and assisted on eight more for 24 points, en route to being named First Team All-American. Valenzuela-Acosta finished her career at PC with a total of 31 goals, 23 assists, and 85 points, while playing in 49 contests with 45 starts.
 
Also joining BHSU from the junior college ranks are a pair of 2-time region champions. Oceanna Solis was a defender at Northeast Community College (Nebraska), where she led her team to a pair of NJCAA Region XI and North Plains District Championships to earn bids to the national tournament in 2022 and 2023. The Hawks combined for a 39-6-2 record during her two seasons as she helped the program post 20 shutouts in the 36 games she appeared in while making 35 starts. During the 2022 season Solis was named All-Region Second Team.
 
Additionally, Whitney Hansen comes to Black Hills State from another strong program at the junior college ranks, having helped lead Laramie County Community College (Wyoming) to back-to-back NJCAA Region IX and High Plains District Championships to earn national tournament bids in 2022 and 2023. With the Golden Eagles she tallied a pair of goals during her career, which both went down as game-winners against Northwest College and Lamar Community College during her sophomore season. She also notched five assists for a career point total of nine. Hansen appeared in 39 games during her two seasons as a LCCC athlete and started 34 contests. During her prep career, she was an all-conference and all-state selection during her junior and senior seasons at Lander Valley High School in Wyoming, leading the team to a title in Class 3A in 2021 while finishing as runners-up in 2022.